


Her

by juli_with_a_chance



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, domestic hollstein, happy Hollstein endgame
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-07
Updated: 2018-02-19
Packaged: 2018-11-28 21:18:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 51,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11426367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/juli_with_a_chance/pseuds/juli_with_a_chance
Summary: Title change from, We Know Better, to, Her, due to the fact that the story took a different turn in the way the content was put out.





	1. Chapter 1

-Laura POV-

“Mom!”

“What?” I call back, not looking up from my computer as my daughter, Reagan, rushes into my office.

“Can you tell Jackson to leave me alone please?” The thirteen-year-old asks with a book in her hand.

“What are you reading?”

“One of your old Harry Potter books.” She chimes, looking down at the book with a smirk. “I only have to read two more books after this one. I’m almost done, then I’m going to start _The Half Blood Prince_.”

“In that case he better be leaving you alone.” I say, pushing my glasses to the top of my head. “Where’s Mama?”

“She’s watching TV.”

“Can you see if she’ll control your brother? I have to get this syllabus together before Monday, she knows I need to work.”

“Okay, I’m sorry for bugging you.”

“You never bug me.” I smile, getting up from my desk and walking over to give her a hug, kissing the top of her head. “I love you, Monkey.”

“I love you too, Mom.” Reagan smiles as she hugs me back. “I want to get back to reading, there’s something about a prophecy that I want to know more about.”

“You can go up to your room and close your door, I’ll call you down when we know what we’re doing with dinner.”

“Okay, Mom.” She smiles, leaving my office.

“Mom!” Jackson shouts, running into the room.

“Jack, sweetie, can you leave your sister alone please.”

“Sorry, I was bored and wanted her to play with me.” The eight-year-old chimes. “Anyway, can I go by Tucker’s house?”

“Do Laf and Perry know you’re coming by?”

“Yeah, they both said it was okay.”

“Did you hear it from Laf or Perry? Or did Tucker say so?”

“Laf got on the phone and said to come over, we’re gonna make slime!”

“The last time you made slime there, you had it all in your hair and we had to cut it out.”

“Laf messed up, Tucker said his parent has slime making down now.”

“I’ll walk you over there.” I sigh, getting up from my desk. “I’ll be right back.”

“Where are you going?” Danny asks me, turning to face me from the couch.

“Tucker invited me to make slime!”

“Just don’t get it in your hair like last time. Tell Laf they better watch out.” Danny says, facing the TV again. “Are you staying for dinner?”

“I don’t know, maybe.”

“I’ll figure that out and let you know when I get back.” I say, walking over and kissing the top of her head, causing Danny to look at me with a smile, pulling me down to kiss her properly.

“You’re gross, can we go?”

“We are not gross.” Danny says defensively.

“Yes you are, let’s go Mom!”

“I’ll be right back.” I say, kissing Danny quickly.

“Okay.” Danny smiles. “Be careful, even though you’re just going down the block.”

“I will.” I smile, taking Jackson by the hand and walking out of the house. A few houses down is where LaFontaine and Perry lived, it was coincidence that we ended up living on the same block.

“Thank you, Mom.” Jackson says, wrapping me in a hug.

“Let Perry know she or Laf have to walk you home.”

“I know, I know.” He says, running across the yard and to the front door. He knocks, looking back me and waving. Perry opens the door with a smile, letting Jack in before walking over towards me.

“Hey.” She chimes, giving me a hug. “How are you?”

“I’m doing good, I have to get my syllabus together before Monday, which is fast approaching.”

“That it is.”

“Does Laf have everything together for their classes?”

“They don’t start until Tuesday. They took Tuesday, Thursday classes, but is there all day.”

“That’s good.” 

“Yeah, seeing as the Dean didn’t want to even give LaFontaine the job back.”

“Well, Laf did kind of blow up the one room in the science building. In the wing the school just built, but you know.”

“All of the kids that liked the way Laf taught and petitioned for Laf to be able to teach again. So, the Dean had no choice.”

“I suppose. Jack didn’t have dinner yet, so I don’t know if you want to keep him for dinner or.”

“He can stay, we never mind having him, he keeps Tucker out of our hair.”

“And him being here keeps him out of Reagan’s hair. Oh, and make sure Laf keeps the slime out of his hair.”

“You know it’s hard to do that with LaFontaine.”

“Try, or Danny will have their head.”

“I’ll tell them to make an effort. Let me go before something blows up. I’ll have Jack home after dinner.”

“Thank you.” I smile, giving her a quick hug.

“You’re welcome.” She chimes, turning back to her house then all of a sudden there was a loud crashing noise coming from inside.

“Laf is very lucky you love them.” I laugh.

“I tell them that all the time.” Perry calls out as she begins to run towards the house. I quickly make it back home and into my office. I become so engrossed with working that I don’t hear the small knock at my door, the only thing bringing me to reality was the feeling of Danny wrapping me in a hug from behind, kissing the side of my neck.

“Can I help you?”

“No.” She whispers, continuing the assault on my neck.

“What are you up to?”

“A lady can’t come into her wife’s office and start kissing her?”

“Not unless said lady wants something.” I smile, turning in my chair to face her.

“I just miss you.” Danny shrugs. “You’ve been in here all day.”

“I have to get this done and submitted. I have to be in Monday, my classes start at nine-thirty this semester.”

“What are your days?”

“Mondays and Wednesdays. I have to leave here at eight and should be home by three-thirty, four.”

“So I have to get the monsters to school?”

“Should I have to apologize for that?”

“No, it’s just…”

“It’s just nothing, I shouldn’t have to feel guilty for wanting to be home earlier and therefore into work earlier. My office hours are set for eight-thirty to nine-fifteen, and then two to three. I shouldn’t have to feel guilty for changing my hours this semester.”

“I’m sorry I said anything.” 

“Well, you said it and now I’m frustrated.”

“I’m sorry. Really.” Danny says, kissing my cheek. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“Well, you did.” I sigh. “I love my job, and I shouldn’t have to feel bad just because it inconveniences you. You have your clients scheduled in such a way, you’re always home.”

“I’m not going to stand here and have you criticize my job.”

“The feeling is mutual. Come Monday morning, you are going to be getting up early for the first time in a long time to get your children off to school. I’ve been doing it long enough.” I say, turning to face my computer again.

“I’m sorry.” She whispers in my ear, kissing my cheek. “You know I say thing I shouldn’t.”

“That’s been your excuse for the past twenty years that I’ve known you.” I say, not giving in to her. “It’s been more of an excuse the past fifteen we’ve been married.” I say sternly, feeling her let me go and walk out of the room.

“Mom!” Reagan calls out, rushing into the room. “Mom! He died!”

“Who died?”

“Sirius! He died, he’s frickin’ dead! That dopey bitch, Bellatrix got him!”

“Oh, sweetie. Just wait until the next book, then you’ll really be crying.”

“Don’t be a troll mom! This is traumatizing, Harry has no one now to look up to really. I mean, yeah he does, but Sirius was his Godfather! I don’t know what to do! I need ice cream.” Reagan says dramatically as she walks out of the room.

“Don’t touch the cookie dough!” I call out.

“Okay!” I hear her call out. “Wait!” She calls out, rushing back into the room. “What are we having for dinner?”

“What do you want?”

“This is a situation calling for pizza.”

“Want to order it or go out?”

“What does mama want to do?”

“Go ask.” I say, putting the finishing touches on the syllabus and printing out a copy and emailing another. I take off my glasses and put them on the desk, rubbing my eyes as I walk across the hall and into the living room to find Reagan and Danny sitting on the couch watching TV. “Are we staying in?”

“Please, that way I don’t have to change.” Danny says with a small smile.

“Me too, Mommy. I don’t want to change.”

“That’s fine.” I say, walking up behind the couch and kissing the top of Reagan’s head. I turn and look at Danny, who looks at me with a shy smile. “I’m sorry.” I whisper, kissing her softly.

“I’m sorry, too.” She says, kissing me again. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” 

* * *

Before I knew it, it was Monday morning and the start of a new semester. I walk into the lecture hall, pulling my bag higher on my shoulder to see some students had already been sitting there, waiting for me. I look over, taking in the morning group. Three girls in the front row in front of my desk, overachievers, most likely their first year. The middle rows were for the students that want to care, but don’t want to be called on too much, I like to think of them as absorbers and they don’t want to be bothered unless they volunteer to be called on. Of course the back rows, furthest from me and closest to the door at the top of the stairs, those were the ones that rarely cared during class, played on their phones or would fall asleep. Out of the ten that were up there right know, I assume only three of them would care enough to give me the work I’m looking for. I lay out the papers and pull out my laptop, setting things up as the last few people shuffled into the hall, I count quickly, knowing I should have at least thirty people in the room. I’m happy to see I’m only short one. “Good morning.” I say happily. “Welcome to English Lit. Make sure your schedule says ENG 103, Mondays and Wednesdays, Room 307 in the Smith building. I am Professor Hollis.” I look up to see a couple of guys leave quickly, clearly mixing up their schedules or something along those lines.

“Okay, I’m sending around a sign-in sheet, just initial next to your name, if you don’t get it, just come up here at the end. Starting Wednesday I should be here prior to everyone, so the sheet will be on the desk here, sign in when you get here so you are ensured to get credit for being here, you don’t sign the sheet, you may not get credit. My attendance policy is on the syllabus.” I say, holding it up. I begin walking around the room, making sure to personally hand each student the syllabus so no one can claim they lost it, or whatever the excuse will be down the line. “There will be a digital copy on the website, but that doesn’t mean you should lose this one. I will have the tendency to refer back to it during class and would expect you to have it. Now, you’ll see I put the textbook on the top in bold, well whoever has it, once I get up to you top row, you’ll see too.” I chime, causing some of the students to laugh. “I know what it’s like to be in college, I know money can be tight, rent the book, buy the book, even download the book; I don’t care how you get the book, you need the book. I gave you the ISBN of the book I use, so try to get that one please. If you have a problem come see me, you’ll need the book by Wednesday.” I announce as I reach the top row, handing out the last few packets, smiling politely as I make eye contact. I reach the end of the row, looking down at the girl in front of me; she looks for her name on the sign-in sheet, initials it and looks up at me with a smirk.

“Trade you.” She says quietly, the smirk still on her face. I hand her a packet and take the sheet from her. “Thank you, Professor Hollis.”

“You’re welcome.” I say quietly. “Did everyone get the sheet?” I call out, getting back into professional mode as I make my way down the steps to the desk. “Okay, just to get a feel for everyone, I’m going to call on your name, this is going to be done randomly. I want you to tell me what your major is, and why you took this class aside from the fact that most of you it was a requirement. If you say that, I want you to tell me your favorite author instead.” I smile, looking down at the list; I mark the ones that didn’t sign with a red circle. “Okay, to start us off, Sarah-Jane Parker.”

“I like to be called SJ, I’m a science major and my favorite author is Jack Kerouac.” Said one of the girls in the front.

“Okay, now let’s go on to Elsie Stevens.”

“I’m a Liberal Arts major, my favorite author is Vonnegut.” Said a voice from somewhere in the middle.

“Carmilla Karnstein? Karn-stien?”

“Karn-steen.” A shy voice corrected from the top corner of the room. “I look up to see the girl that was smirking at me earlier.

“My apologies Miss. Karnstein. Major and Author or reason?”

“Philosophy, and I enjoy reading everything and anything. I like being exposed to new literature that I may have not stumbled across on my own, it’s exciting, to me at least.” The young woman shrugs, looking at me intently.

“Okay, good reason.” I nod. I get through the rest of the class; everyone except for Carmilla gave me the name of an author rather than a reason for taking the class. “Okay, we are going to end there, the only thing you have for homework is getting the book. Come Wednesday we are starting things off. Have a good day, and I’ll see you then. You are free to go.” I smile, watching as everyone pack up his or her stuff before I start packing up mine.

“Professor Hollis.” I look up to see Carmilla looking at me shyly.

“Carmilla.” I smile. “How can I help you?”

“I was reading through the syllabus, and I noticed a typo.” She says, flipping to a page and pointing out the line that read. ‘Don’t touch the cookie dough.’ “I’m assuming it’s a typo.”

“Shit.” I mutter, looking through the rest of her copy, noticing she highlighted different things and color-coded everything. “It is a typo. The trouble of having children that are always in a crisis.”

“A crisis involving cookie dough?”

“My daughter was reading Harry Potter, she found out Sirius died, it was a crisis.”

“I remember that feeling when I read the books. It was heart wrenching. Has she found out about Dumbledore yet?”

“That will be next weeks crisis, and then Snape will be the week after that.” I laugh.

“And yet, they are marketed as children’s books.”

“True, I already printed out the syllabus, I don’t care to change it, thank you for pointing it out to me though, I’ll tell everyone about it Wednesday.”

“You’re welcome.” She smiles. “I’ll see you Wednesday.”

“See you Wednesday.”


	2. Chapter 2

-Carmilla POV-

I walk across campus and into the administrative building, climbing the stairs to the second floor and walking into the familiar office. “Hey, Sue, is she busy?”

“Hello, Carmilla.” The older woman says with a smile. “She’s in there, she may be on the phone though.”

“Thank you.” I smile, walking past her desk and into the office. My mom looks up and smiles when she sees me walk in. 

“Hello sweetie, how are you?”

“I’m good, how are you?”

“Working. Making sure the science building isn’t catching fire again.” She says, rolling her eyes. “Anyway, how were your classes today?”

“So far so good. I only have three classes.”

“I know I saw your schedule, why aren’t you taking more?”

“I don’t want to overload. Besides you’re the Dean and I get to go here for free. I don’t care how long it takes me to graduate, you aren’t quitting your job any time soon.” I chime, sitting down across from her.

“You have a point. Are you going to be coming over for dinner tonight?”

“I don’t know, I have to see what Ell is doing, and I’ll let you know.”

“You know Ell is more than welcome to come by.”

“She may be with her boyfriend, so I don’t now.” I shrug.

“Sweetie, you know I don’t like when you’re alone all the time, it isn’t good for you.”

“I don’t mind being alone.”

“You’re young, you should find someone, even another friend.”

“I hang out with Will and Mattie.”

“Just try to make an effort to make some more friends.” She says with a sweet smile. “Your father would like to see you too by the way, he has off tonight and would appreciate if you came by.”

“I’ll think about it, I have to get books for my classes.”

“Say no more.” She smiles, getting up from her desk and walking over to one of the many bookshelves in her office, grabbing three thick books. “Here you go, English, Psychology, and Philosophy.”

“Thanks mom.”

“Now you can come to dinner and be with your family.”

“You’ve driven me to coming over.” I say with a small smile.

“Just as it should be, come by around six. I have to finish up some stuff here and then I’m out of here.” She says, looking at her watch. “It’s almost three-thirty, I want to leave here in like twenty minutes. Your father is cooking dinner.”

“Hopefully the kitchen won’t blow up.”

“He’s gotten better in his old age.”

“I’m telling him you said that.”

“I tell him that every time he doesn’t burn the toast in the morning. Which is more often than you would think, I find that an accomplishment.”

“After being married to him for, what was it, thirty years?”

“Pretty much. You go through a lot when you’re married to someone who wants to be successful like yourself.”

“You’ve lectured me on it enough, Mom.” I say, pinching the bridge of my nose. “You want me to find someone who wants success and who can balance me out, professionally as well as personally. I know; that’s what I get for having a mother who is the Dean of Silas and a father who is Dean of Medicine at Silas University Hospital. Two successful parents, one mediocre child, and two successful adopted children.”

“You aren’t mediocre, Carmilla, you’re just walking to the beat of a different drum and always have. That’s what make you my special girl.”

“Thanks Ma.”

“You’ll get your life together before you know it. You’re still young.”

“I know. Look I want to get back to my apartment, I’ll be over around five.” I say standing up and watching as my mother walks around her desk, wrapping me in a hug. “I love you, Mom.”

“I love you too. Be careful getting home.” She says, kissing my cheek. I walk out of her office and exit the building, making my way to my car; I look down at my phone and text Ell, letting her know my plans for the rest of the day. As I look up I see someone struggling with an armful of things, I intended on ignoring it when I see the person drop everything. With a sigh, I walk over and help.

“Oh thank you so much.” A familiar voice chimes. “Oh, Carmilla.”

“Hello, Professor Hollis.” I say, handing her a folder that she dropped.

“Thank you.” She smiles, one of the sweetest smiles I’ve ever seen.

“You’re welcome. Do you need any more help, or?”

“I should be good, thank you. Don’t forget to get your book for Wednesday.”

“I already have it.” I say, taking it out of my bag and holding it up.

“Awesome. If you want to, you can get a kick start on the reading.”

“I just might.”

“Well, have a good rest of today and tomorrow. I’ll see you bright and early on Wednesday.” She says, as she starts walking towards her car and I start walking towards mine. 

* * *

 

“Hey, hey!” I call out as I walk through the door.

“Hey.” Ell calls out from where she was sat on the couch. “How was class?”

“Good.” 

“Did your mom get your textbooks?"

“Of course.”

“Did she say anything about mine?”

“No, you know she only helps you out of the goodness of her heart.”

“I know, and she saves me money.”

“You have Tuesday, Thursday classes, which she probably knows. So go talk to her tomorrow.”

“Okay. I did get your text by the way; I’m going out with Duncan later so I think you should go to your parents’.”

“My mom convinced me to go. I know I should see them more.”

“You should. You’re just too stubborn to ever go home and see them.”

“I like being alone.”

“I know, you only keep me around for shits and giggles.”

“I like being alone for the most part, but I don’t have to force a conversation with you to feel comfortable. You keep me from getting lonely, and when I want to have fun, you keep me comfortable enough to go out.”

“So you’re using me. I get it.”

“Shut up, you ass hole.” I say with a smile, walking into the kitchen and making a fresh pot of coffee.

“What’s up?” Ell asks, walking into the kitchen.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re hiding something.”

“I’m not hiding anything.” I shrug.

“I call bullshit.”

“There is no bullshit.”

“Fine, you’re developing something, I know it. I will hear from it soon.”

“I don’t know what you’re walking about, but okay.” I say, fixing a cup of coffee and going into my room.

“When are you leaving?” Ell asks from the hallway.

“In like half and hour. I’m just going to get some reading done and then go.”

“You’re such an over achiever.”

“Well, I’ll probably do my English reading and then do everything else tomorrow.”

“Who’s your professor?”

“Hollis.” I say, forcing myself not to smile at the though of the older woman.

“I didn’t have her, but I think Duncan did. He said she was the hottest teacher in the English department.” Ell says, rolling her eyes.

“I guess so.” I shrug as Ell stares at me intently. “What?”

“Nothing.” She says, putting her hands up defensively.

“Exactly.” I say, pulling my textbooks out of my bag and sitting on my bed.

 

-Laura POV-

The sound of my alarm jolts me awake. I reach over and turn it off while Danny tries to pull me closer. “Not yet.” She mumbles against my shoulder.

“You can stay in bed, I have to get up. I have to get Reagan up.”

“I’ll do it.”

“You did it the other day and she almost missed the bus.”

“Fine, you do it.” Danny huffs, turning over to face away from me. I get out of bed, rolling my eyes at her. I walk across to Reagan’s room to see she fell asleep with a book on her chest and a flashlight in her hand. I smile, seeing that reminded me about myself.

“Sweetie, you have to get up.” I say gently, taking the book and marking the page it was on.

“It’s not Friday yet?” She mumbles into her pillow.

“I’m sorry, Kiddo.” I chime, kissing her forehead. “I’ll be in the kitchen.”

“Can I have my cocoa cereal?”

“Of course, it’ll be waiting for you.”

“Thanks Mom.” She smiles, blinking a few times. I open her curtain before making my way out of her room and going downstairs to start making coffee. I get Reagan her bowl of cereal together before I hear shuffling coming from upstairs. Reagan comes into the kitchen with a tired smile.

“Two bowl limit, I don’t need you crashing out halfway through the morning.”

“I know, I know.”

“I’m going to shower, your mother should be downstairs soon.” I chime, kissing the top of her head.

“Do you still love, Mama?” Reagan asks casually as she fixes herself breakfast.

“Why are you asking that?”

“I’m old enough to see things, Mom.”

“I don’t want you worrying about, Mama and I.”

“Okay.” Reagan nods.

“Seriously Rae. I don’t want you to think about it.”

“I just know that, Sadie’s parents started to act like you and Mama, and they got a divorce, are you going to get a divorce?”

“Again, there is nothing to worry about.” I say reassuringly, kissing her on the cheek. “Eat, you have to get ready, as do I. If Jack comes down here can you get his cereal if Mama isn’t up?”

“Okay.” She nods. I make my way back upstairs where Danny was walking out of our room.

“Morning.” She smiles, kissing me on the cheek.

“Our daughter just asked me if we are getting a divorce.” I say casually as I walk into our room to get to the en suite bathroom.

“What?”

“Reagan just asked me if we were going to get a divorce. She’s picked up on how we have become towards each other and now she’s concerned.”

“Well, we aren’t. You told her that, right?”

“Of course I told her that. There is no reason for her to assume that.”

“So long as we know we aren’t, there isn’t anything to worry about.” Danny says, walking over and wrapping her arms around me. “I love you, Laura. You know that.”

“Yeah, I know. I have to get ready for work.” I say, kissing Danny on the cheek. 

* * *

I stop in the administrative building where my office happened to be located. I walk in and make my way to the second floor. “Hello Ms. Hollis. How are you?” Sue, the secretary to the Dean, chimes as I reach the top of the stairs.

“I’m good, how are you?”

“Very well. How are the kids?”

“Still as cute as ever.” I smile, showing her a picture. “Reagan is thirteen and Jackson just turned eight.”

“I remember when they were babies and you were brining them around.”

“Time flies.”

“That it does.” She smiles, looking over at the door to the Dean’s office door opening and the Dean walking out. “Hello Mrs. Morgan.”

“Hello Sue, Hello Laura.” She smiles politely.

“Hello, Lilita. How are you?

“I’m doing well. How are you, keeping that friend of yours out of trouble.” She says light heartedly.

“Laf knows they have to have several fire extinguishers on hand, and be aware of everything going on. They know not to get too over excited.”

“We still want LaFontaine to have fun and make sure the students are learning everything they need to.”

“Exactly.” I smile. “Well I have to get going, I have to drop this off and make it to class.”

“Laura.” Lilita says, causing me to turn around.

“Yes?”

“I noticed you have a special student in your morning class.” 

“Who?”

“Carmilla Karnstein.”

“She seems like a bright young lady, I look forward to seeing her potential.”

“She has a lot of potential, make sure she doesn’t let it falter.” 

“Yes ma’am.” I smile. “Why your interest in Carmilla?’

“She’s the daughter a friend of mine. I told him I would look out for her.” She chimes.

“Oh, okay. I’m sorry but I have to get going.”

“Go, go. I’m sorry for keeping you.”

“It’s okay.” I drop a few things off at the office before making my way across campus with five minutes to spare. “Good morning.” I chime, walking into the lecture hall where there were a few students waiting. “Come sign in.” I say, holding up the paper and putting it on the desk. I look at my watch to see it wasn’t time to begin teaching just yet. I look up and smile as everyone signs the sheet while I look through the textbook for out first lesson. Then I see Carmilla walk in with a yawn. “Good morning.”

“Good morning, Professor Hollis.” She smiles, initialing the sheet.

“If you have the time, I would like to see you after class.”

“I have a few minutes, depending on when you end.”

“Okay. We’ll see what happens.” I smile. “Take your seat.” I watch as she makes her way to the top row, sitting in the same seat she did the other day, in fact, everyone is sitting in the same seat they did the other day. “Okay, let’s get started.” I announce with a smile, watching as everyone got out their notebooks and textbooks, some students opting for tablets. The class went by rather quickly, seeing as I got all of the content in before the hour and a half was up. “Okay, we got everything done that I wanted to have done. You’re free to go ten minutes early. Have the next reading ready by Monday, we will discuss it and there will be a quiz. Have a good weekend.” I begin to put my things away as everyone shuffles out, I look up to see Carmilla still sitting in her seat, writing away. “Miss Karnstein.”

“Yeah?” She says, looking up at me. “Sorry, I was just finishing the notes.” She smiles, as she closes her book. “What was it you wanted to talk about?” I watch as she gets up from her seat and makes her way down to me.

“How are you?”

“I’m doing well.”

“A little birdy told me you’re friends with the Dean.”

“Oh yeah, she’s a friend of my father’s.” Carmilla says shyly. “Don’t give me some special treatment just because my father knows the Dean. Since I transferred here, I’ve asked professors that found out not to give me special treatment.”

“I won’t. You seem smart enough where you can hold you own no matter what.”

“Yeah, I can. I only transferred here because they have a better Philosophy program here and offer a Master’s Degree for it.” She shrugs. “And I missed being closer to home.”

“Well, as long as you made the right choice, that’s all that matters.” I smile. “I have to go. I have another class starting soon.”

“So do I. I’ll see you Monday, have a good weekend.”

“You too, Carmilla.” 

* * *

“Mom!” Jackson shouts as I walk through the door.

“Hey, sweetie. How was school?” I smile, kissing the top of his head.

“Good, I got a hundred on my spelling test.”

“Good job. Did you put it on the fridge?”

“Of course.” He chimes.

“Oh good you’re home.” Danny says, coming down the stairs, she kisses me on the cheek. “I have to go, I have a new client I have to make a house call.”

“Oh, okay.” I say, as she grabs her keys off the hook.

“Love you, I’ll be home later.”

“Okay.” I say, trying not to be disappointed in the fact that she left the minute I walked through the door, something she had the tendency of doing a lot.

“What does Mama do again?”

“She’s a Physical Therapist, she helps people get better after they break an arm or a leg, she gets them moving again.”

“Oh.” He shrugs.

“Wanna go out?” 

“Where are we gonna go?”

“The mall, I could use some shopping time. Go get Reagan, tell her to pry herself away from the book and to get ready to go in five minutes.”

“Okay, mommy.” He smiles, walking up the stairs. “Reagan!”

“I’m only going if we go to the bookstore!”

“It wouldn’t be a mall trip if we didn’t!” I call up the stairs.

“Okay then!” She calls back. Before I knew it, Reagan and Jackson were rushing down the stairs.

“We’re just going to get pizza tonight.” I say as we walk out to the car. 

“What about Mama?” Jack asks.

“Mama is a grown up, she can worry about herself and probably will get dinner after work.” I look over to see Reagan sigh before looking out the window. After we ate and did some minor shopping, we ended up in the bookstore, Reagan going straight to the young adult section, Jackson going to the children’s section while I just browsed around for a while. I begin to make my way upstairs when I see Carmilla walking towards me with an armful of books.

“Hello, Professor.”

“Hi Carmilla. You look like you’re buying the place.”

“Philosophy. My professors want specific books, and I had most of them already, but these were what I needed.”

“Kierkegaard, my favorite.” 

“You read Philosophy?”

“I was in school too once, I had to take electives and those were the ones I gravitated to. I enjoyed the readings.”

“Interesting.” 

“Hey Mom, can I get this book?” Jackson asks, walking over with a graphic novel in his hand.

“It’s a glorified comic book.” I say, taking it from his hands.

“So, it’s Spiderman, please.”

“Okay, go find a real book you’re interested in, please.”   
  
“Okay Mom.” He smiles.

“Mom, can I read this?” Reagan than asks, walking over with a copy if Twilight.

“These books are horrible.”

“You know I like to find that out for myself.”

“I have these in my office, they’re on the bottom shelf, I was ashamed I every bought them.” I grimace, looking over at Carmilla. “And now you know I made a horrible mistake in my literary journey.”

“Well all make mistakes in some form or another.” Carmilla shrugs.

“Who’s this, Mom?” Reagan asks with a small smile.

“I’m Carmilla, your Mom is my teacher.”

“Oh, cool. I’m Reagan, I’ve never seen one of her students before.”

“Well I don’t go to work and teach monkeys.”

“That would be neat.”

“Your mom told me you were reading Harry Potter and had a crisis.”

“Yeah, Sirius black died. I just started the sixth book. Mom showed me the typo on your paper, sorry I distracted her.”

“It’s fine, if it wasn’t for Carmilla pointing it out, I would have missed it.”

“Just be aware that other people are going to pass. You may need more than cookie dough ice cream.” Carmilla informs, causing Reagan to laugh.

“Thank you for the warning. I’m going to go put this back.” She says, putting the book back.

“Well, I better go see what those rascals are up to, it was nice seeing you.”

“It was nice seeing you too, I’ll see you Monday.” Carmilla smiles. I make my way on the direction Reagan went, meeting her at the top of the escalator.

“She looks at you the same way Mama used to.” Reagan says with a smile.

“And how do you know that?”

“I can tell from the pictures we have of you and Mama from when you were younger.”

“How does she look at me then?” I ask as I start following her towards the section of books, finding Jackson hunched over the shelf with graphic novels. “Did you get a real book mister?”

“Yeah, a Magic Tree House.” He says, holding it up.

“Okay, come stay with Reagan and I.”

“Can I look at the Spiderman book?”

“Yes here, go sit in that chair. Don’t move.”

“Got it.” He smiles, walking over and taking a seat.

“So, back to my question.”

“She looks at you like you’re the only thing that she wants to look at. I mean; I know she’s your student and you just met her the other day. I get that it’s so inappropriate to like, be with a student or even think of one in a way that isn’t strictly as a student. But I can tell you right now, there is a lot more going on.”

“Where did you get this from?”

“I read, Mom.” She chimes. “I know these things, I get it.”

“You need to be a kid, don’t go into that realm of adult feelings just yet.”

“Okay.” She shrugs, looking through the shelves of books. “I won’t tell Mama.”

“Okay.” I say quietly, looking over at Reagan before looking at Jackson. When Danny I and decided to have kids, she didn’t want to have much to do with it. She didn’t want to have a kid that was biologically hers, or carry. She wasn’t involved in the whole process the way I would have liked. She helped pick a donor with traits that were similar to hers, rather than having once of the kids be entirely hers, so looking at Reagan and Jackson rarely ever reminded me of Danny, but more so myself. I wrap my arm around Reagan, kissing the side of her head. “I love you, Monkey.”

“I love you too Mom.” She smiles, kissing my cheek.


	3. Chapter 3

-Laura POV-

I walked out of the bathroom, holding my head in my hands. “What’s wrong, Mommy?” Jackson asks, meeting me in the hallway.

“Just a bad headache, Monk. Nothing to worry about.”

“Okay, Mommy.” He smiles, wrapping me in a hug. “Do you want a wet rag on your forehead like you do for me when I have a headache?”

“No thank you, I took some medicine.”

“Okay, I’m gonna go play.”

“Okay sweetheart.” I smile, kissing the top of his head before he runs off into his room. I walk downstairs to find, Danny, sitting in my office on the computer.

“Hey, you okay?”

“No, I have a massive headache.” I whine, walking over and sitting on her lap. She wraps her arms around me, running her fingers through my hair.

“Did you want to lie down?”

“No, I took aspirin. Hopefully it will help soon.”

“Go take a nap, there’s no reason for you to be up, Jack is content, Rae is out. I’m typing out a few schedules and then I’ll be up to check on you.”

“I have so much to do, I have to start getting the midterm review together, I have to answer some emails and grade some papers.”

“But you won’t be able to do that with a headache.”

“I know. Maybe I will go lay down.”

“Go. I’ll hold down the fort. I’ll make dinner and all.” She smiles, kissing my forehead. “You need the day off from worrying about this house.”

“It’s my semi-annual day off.” I scoff, getting off of her lap.

“Really?”

“What do you mean, really?”

“I’m trying to be nice.”

“You’re never nice! You never made this a team effort since the kids came into the picture, so just because I have a headache and feel nauseas, you’re going to give me the night off? You never do it on a regular basis like you really should. You know, the last time you said that to me was over a year ago. The last time you ‘gave me the day off from worrying about this house’ was when I had the flu!”

“Come on, don’t do this.” She says, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Don’t do what? Call you out on your bullshit?”

“Come on! Jack is upstairs, save it.”

“No, I’m sick and tired of this. This back and forth, this nonsense on your part!”

“You just have to say the word and I’ll have our lawyer on the phone.”

“Are you threatening me?” I ask with narrow eyes. “No, you’re challenging me, you’re really challenging me?” Danny stands there, her arms crossed over her chest.

“This is a long time coming and we both know it.” She says, bowing her head and rubbing her face in frustration.

“I know it is, but we have kids.”

“They’ll get over it, you’ll get over it.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“You know, I don’t really know anymore. I don’t want to keep this game up; I don’t want to keep pretending that we go to bed at night happy. I know that we don’t, you know that we don’t. Reagan even knows that we don’t.” Danny sighs. “I don’t know what other options we have?”

“Therapy. We can try therapy.”

“And if that doesn’t work?”

“Then we’ll go along with it and call the lawyer.”

“Okay.” Danny nods. “Does your head still hurt?”

“Getting aggravated out weighed the migraine.” I say light-heartedly. “I’m going to run out for a little bit. I need time to clear my head.”

“Okay.” She says, sitting back down at the desk. I turn on my heels and make my way to the door, stepping out into the hallway to see Jackson running into the den. I sigh, walking into the den to see him fiddling with the remote, I walk over and plop down next to him on the couch, taking the remote from his hand, turning off the TV and pulling him into my lap.

“Why did you hear?” I ask, resting my cheek against his head.

“Something about a law-er.” He says innocently.

“Lawyer.” I correct him. “Mama and I just got angry at each other, we said things we shouldn’t have and didn’t consider the fact that you were upstairs. I’m sorry.”

“Are you and Mama going to get a divorce?”

“We don’t know what’s going on right now, but we’re going to try to fix it. I don’t want to lie to you, Mama and I aren’t like we used to be, it tends to happen when you’re an adult, the person you marry doesn’t always turn out the way you think they will and someone ends up getting hurt.”

“So we’re the ones Mama is hurting?”

“I don’t know. Mama may be hurting herself with the choices she’s made in the past couple of years.”

“Oh, are you going somewhere?”

“I was going to run out quick, go to the store. Do you want anything special?” I ask, brushing the hair out of his face.

“Can I come with you?”

“I think you should stay here keep Mama company, just because Mama and I have some problems at the moment, doesn’t mean you treat her any differently, she is still your Mama and no matter what, she loves you with all her heart.”

“Okay, Mommy. Can you bring home some cookies?” He asks with a toothless grin.

“I’ll bring you home some cookies.” I chime, kissing him on the cheek. “I love you, and I’ll be back soon.”

“Okay, be careful.”

“I will, Monkey.” 

* * *

I walk up the cookie aisle, looking for Jackson’s favorite cookies. “Laura, if I don’t ever find you in this aisle I will be concerned.” Perry chimes, bumping her cart into mine.

“You refuse to bake for me anymore. I have to get my fix somewhere. How are you?”

“I’m good, don’t tell me you’re good cause I can tell you aren’t good.”

“Danny and I had a fight.”

“Over?”

“Her stupidity, that’s the easiest way to put it.”

“That seems to be a going theme with you two.”

“It is. Things got a little carried away with what we said, and Jackson was in the house so I had to explain things to him. It wasn’t fun.” I say, shaking my head.

“If you ever need anything, please let me know.”

“I will.”

“Are you guys going to…?”

“We might, we’re going to do therapy.” I say, rolling my eyes. “For the sake of the kids. I don’t want them growing up in a broken home anymore than they already may be.”

“Yeah, everything will pan out.” Perry smiles as she wraps me in a hug. “Can I ask you something?”

“In the middle of the cookie aisle? Are you done with your shopping?”

“Yeah, I’m just about done.”

“Wanna meet me for coffee in like ten minutes, the little café on the corner?” 

“Sure.” Not long after, Perry and I were sitting down and enjoying a cup of coffee. “Now, I was going to ask you about something LaFontaine saw."

“Oh no.”

“I don’t think it’s something you should be nervous about, they just thought it was interesting coming from you.”

“What is that?”

“They saw you with a student, and it seemed to be…”

“Intimate, to some extent?”

“You said it not me.” Perry says defensively.

“That was, Carmilla, who they saw me with.” I say quietly. “Have you ever had a deep connection with someone almost as soon as you saw them?”

“LaFontaine.” Perry nods. “We were friends for so long, and when the time came to start having feelings for someone, it was so natural to just stay with them, I never looked back or thought twice about it.” She says with a smile. “But…”

“I know, she’s my student and I should know better. I do know better. But whatever Laf saw was just two adults talking in my office.”

“Whatever you were talking about though would make anyone think differently…”

“I don’t know if I care about what people think. I know I want to get to know Carmilla more. There’s something about her, Perry. I can’t begin to explain it.”

“You’re conflicted, aren’t you?”

“Extremely.” I sigh. “I want to fix things with, Danny because it’s the right thing to do…”

“But you want to see what happens with, Carmilla, because she’s young and there’s something very ‘Mrs. Robinson’ about it. But you have a family.”

“And that’s why I would never go along with anything.”

“Human nature can be a strange thing though, you never know what will happen, and attraction can overcome.”

“I know. I know.” I sigh, taking a sip of my drink and look out the window.

“What would you do if Danny left?”

“I’d leave her before she left me. I would never say she walked out on me, she doesn’t have the right to do that to me, she will never slap me in the face like that.”

“Doesn’t matter who leaves who, it’s a matter of what you’re going to do.”

“Move on with my life, and keep my children happy.” I say bluntly. “That’s all the will matter to me, whatever happens and whoever comes along will have to like my children before I give them any kind of chance.” 

“Do you think divorce is inevitable?”

“I really do.” I whisper, looking down at my cup. Perry reaches over and puts her hand over mine.

 

-Carmilla POV-

***Flashback** *****

_I walk through the hallway to the lecture hall I had yet to experience dread when approaching it. I look up to see the lights were out and there was a pink notice taped to the door;_ ENG 103 with Professor L. Hollis is cancelled _. I sigh, reading the not again before looking at my phone, checking my school email to see that Professor Hollis did indeed send an email. I read through it to see she wants us to follow the syllabus and be ready for Monday’s class with a small two-page paper on the reading. I walk out of the building and across campus to the library, finding my usual secluded corner where I pulled out my textbook and tablet and began reading. I feel someone standing over me; I look up to see Professor Hollis. “Hello Ma’am.”_

_“Hi Carmilla.”_

_“Why did you cancel class?”_

_“I only canceled you class, my son wasn’t feeling too good this morning and I had to wait for my dad to come and watch him.”_

_“Oh, d-do you ant to sit?”_

_“Sure. Are you reading what I briefed in the email?”_

_“Yes ma’am.” I nod._

_“Please, call me Laura outside of class.”_

_“Okay, Laura.” I smile, the name feeling sweet on my tongue. “But yeah, I started the section with The Canterbury Tales. How do you want the paper done? You didn’t really specify.”_

_“Just a general overview of the section you read. What did I assign twenty pages or so?”_

_“Yeah.”_

_“Just summarize it.”_

_“Can I ask you something?” I say, closing the book and looking up at her._

_“Anything you want.” She says with a smile._

_“Do you like me?”_

_“What does that mean?”_

_“I see it in your eyes, something about you changes when you look at me, or talk to me in class. Like no one else matters when you look at me.” I say quietly, watching to see if anything changes about her. She opens her mouth to say something before closing it and looking away. “L – Laura.” I whisper, placing my hand on top of hers for a split second before she pulls away._

_“We can’t.” She whispers, looking at me as she shakes her head._

_“I’m sorry.”_

_“I don’t want to discuss this here, it’s not something to discuss in the middle of the library.” She says, standing up from the table. “Will you be able to meet me in my office around two-thirty this afternoon?”_

_“I can try.”_

_“We’ll talk then.” She says, patting my shoulder._

* * *

_I walk up to the door of Laura’s office. I take a deep breath before knocking on the door, I peak through the window to see her look you at me. With a smile she waves me in and pushes her glasses to the top of her head. “Hello Miss Karnstein. Can you just shut the door?”_

_“Of course.” I say, closing the door as I walk in. “So, what did you want to talk about?”_

_“What you brought up in the library. About you liking me…”_

_“I apologize.” I say, feeling my cheeks turn hot._

_“I don’t want you to apologize.” She says, moving to sit on the edge of her desk while I sat across from her, her knees brushing against mine as she leans back on her hands. “We’re adults, mature adults I hope. As much as I want deny the fairy tale feelings I seem to have for you, I can’t. Since you first walked into my class, until now. It’s been nearly half the semester and I still can’t shake it.”_

_“What about your family?” I ask, looking up at her to see concern in her eyes._

_“I never inferred anything more than it being okay for you to like me, and that I like you. This is something that can’t leave this room; do you understand me? Once the semester is over, we will discuss things further, until then it is nothing more than, ‘Miss Karnstein’ and ‘Professor Hollis’.”_

_“Yes ma’am.” I nod. We stare at each other or a moment, getting caught up in absorbing each other. Laura then reaches out and puts her hand on my cheek, I couldn’t help but lean into her hand._

_“You’re alluring, Carmilla. You have the power to make anyone with a pulse question a lot of things.”_

_“I know. I don’t like it, nor do I mean to have the affect on people.” I say, closing my eyes._

_“I could imagine.” She says as a silence falls between us. “We should get coffee.”_ _  
_

_“_ _What happened to waiting until the end of the semester?”_

_“Coffee isn’t anything, we can have it in here, look as if we’re going over something.” She shrugs. “Next week, after class. I’m only on campus Monday and Wednesday.”_

_“Okay, whatever works for you is okay with me.” I smile._

_“Monday after your day is over.”_

_“Are your kids going to mind? Your husband?”_

_“That’s cute?”_

_“What is?”_

_“You assuming I’m straight. Do you think this is just something I’m willing to experience because I’m old and want adventure?”_

_“I – I don’t know. Everyone is different.”_

_“I’m gay, Carmilla.” She says with a smile. In that moment, the sound of my name coming from her gave me chills. “This isn’t some kind of fantasy I want to fulfill before I die, I genuinely feel something for you. I don’t know what it is…”_

_“So is your wife going to mind?”_

_“She’ll just have to figure it out, wouldn’t she?”_

_“I guess so, if that’s what you say.” I shrug. All of a sudden there was a loud knock on the door causing Laura to nearly jump away from me, as she looks up wide-eyed._

_“Shit.” She mutters, walking over to the door._

_-Laura POV-_

_I open the door and poke my head out the door. “Hey, Laf.”_

_“Hey Frosh.” They say, their tone sounding slightly annoyed. “What the fuck, are you doing?” They ask in a hushed tone._

_“Talking with a student.”_

_“Sitting at the edge of your desk with a ‘come hither’ look in your eye?”_

_“I mean…”_

_“Hollis, you better not be doing anything fucked up. You know better than to go down this path and what happens if Danny caught you?”_

_“She wouldn’t know what was happening, she’s an idiot.”_

_“Doesn’t matter how much of an idiot she is, she will still get suspicious and jealous seeing you sitting on your desk like that in front of a student.”_

_“Don’t worry about it, and don’t say anything.”_

_“Okay, would you mind watching Tucker tomorrow night? Perry and I want to go to dinner and maybe a movie.”_

_“No problem. We love having him, he keeps Jack busy.”_

_“Thank you. Now, clear up whatever that is.” They say, waving their hand._

_“I don’t want to.”_

_“You’re telling me this is a duel effort?”_

_“Yeah.” I smile with a nod._

_“Don’t be stupid then.”_

_“I won’t.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, there we go... you can find me on Tumblr, juli-with-a-chance, if you have anything you want to say or follow me, whatever. Please comment, let me know how you feel about this story so I know it's worth continuing. Comments help way more than you'll ever know :)


	4. Chapter 4

-Carmilla POV-

I walk out of my room, stopping in the hallway to look in the mirror one more time. “Where are you going?” Ell asks, looking up from her laptop as I walk past where she was sat at the table working on something. 

“I – I have a date.” I say quietly.

“You, Carmilla Karnstein, are going on a date? You don’t date; you quiver when someone asks you to move in the store. The shyest person I know is going on a date.”

“This is a different circumstance.”

“Who is the lucky lady?”

“I can’t tell you that.” I say. The semester was coming to an end. Laura and I were beginning a budding relationship that was becoming increasingly comfortable and stronger as the days moved on. It would hit me when she would mention her children or her wife, it hurt knowing I was the other woman, I didn’t like the thought of being a home wrecker or something like that, but there was something about Laura that I couldn’t get over, I couldn’t bear the thought of not having her in my life.

“And why is that?” Ell asks, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I don’t feel like I should say anything, I know you’ll go blabbing.”

“If you think I’m going to blab then it must be good. Who is it, royalty?”

“If I tell you, you can’t say anything. I would kill you.”

“Now you have to tell me, I swear I would out you or anything like that.”

“Okay.” I say, taking a deep breath. “Laura.”

“Laura?”

“Hollis.”

“Laura Hollis?” She says quietly, thinking for a moment before her eyes go wide. “What the fuck! You’re dating your teacher?” She says, her eyes bulging out of her head. “Holy shit. I didn’t think you had it in you.”

“The fuck does that mean?”

“You’ve always been so introverted and quiet, to think you would go after an older woman who just so happens to be your professor? That’s ballsy, Carmilla.”

“I don’t know how to explain it.” I shrug, feeling my cheeks get hot. “I have to go.” I say, looking at my watch. “How do I look?”

“Really good. Have fun, let me know if you’re going to be late.”

“Okay.” I say, starting to walk out the door. “Just incase I don’t get around to talking to you, please keep your sexual adventures in your room.”

“You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?”

“Nope.” 

* * *

I pull up to the restaurant of Laura choice, taking a deep breath before getting out and walking to the front of the building. I look down at my phone to see Laura texted me telling her to meet her inside. I walk in to see Laura sitting at the small, dimly lit bar.

“Can I help you?” The hostess asks with a thick French accent.

“I’m with her.” I say, pointing to Laura. I walk into the bar area and stand behind Laura. “Hey.” I whisper in her ear, causing her to smile shyly.

“Hello to you too.” She chimes, turning to look up at me. She stands up, wrapping me in a hug. “Did you find the place alright? I know it is kind of secluded or whatever, but it’s my favorite.”

“No problem at all.”

“Let’s go sit.” She says, taking her drink and reaching for my hand as we make it back to the hostess to be seated. We’re lead to a quiet corner of the dining room area. I look over the menu to see it was primarily French.

“I didn’t pin you as someone who liked French food.”

“Oh really. This place has the best food, and desserts.” Laura smiles as her eyes glance down at the menu.

“I take it that sweet tooth of yours is a severe problem.”

“You know I can’t have my coffee without a cookie.” She chimes as the waiter walks over, he too having a thick French accent. Laura places her order with the man before he turns to me. I look at Laura with a smirk, speaking fluent French as I ordered. The waiter chuckled at the look on Laura’s face as he walked away.

“You should close your mouth, Ms. Hollis. You wouldn’t want to catch flies or something.” I tease, taking a sip of water.

“I didn’t know you spoke French.” She says quietly.

“There’s still a lot you don’t know about me.”

“I know; I want to know more about you.”

“You can’t know everything. I want to keep my air of mystery.”

“You’re young, you’re always going to be full of mysteries.”

“And I here I would say you would be more mysterious than me, seeing as you’re older and likely wiser.”

“Maybe that’s what keeping you coming back for more.”

“You aren’t bad to look at either.” I chime.

“For someone my age?” She asks, sitting back in her seat.

“Not a thing to do with age. I can promise you that.” I say, reaching over and taking her hand in mine.

“You make me feel younger, my wife, she doesn’t make me feel happy like you do.” 

“Do you know what you two are doing?”

“We’re still trying therapy, it’s working a bit but I don’t know how far it will get us. I think we’re going to file. There’s something about it that only seems right. We haven’t told the kids yet. My daughter is going to probably freak out, and my son is going to be upset.”

“If you need anything, or want to talk. I am here for you.”

“I know. But I don’t want to have you physically in the picture just yet. I hope you understand.”

“I do. And I respect that.”

“Thank you.”

“Whenever you’re ready to tell your kids, I’ll be here.” I say with a smile.

“I know.” She smiles, squeezing my hand lightly. “Are you ready for the final?”

“As I can be. Go easy on me, teach.”

“You’ll do great. If I could exempt you from taking the final, I would. You have the highest overall grade in that class for the semester.”

“I try.”

“You don’t even seem as though you try hard, you are just a genuinely good student.”

“I guess so.” I shrug. A silence falls between us. I couldn’t tell if it was awkward or not, but something about it was slightly uncomfortable.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

“You get quiet often.”

“It’s a flaw. I always feel like I get boring or something.”

“Just talk, there is no reason to feel like you get boring.”

“I don’t know what to talk about.”

“Are you graduating at the end of the semester?”

“Not yet, I have two more semesters before I can graduate, then I’m moving on to my Masters and maybe a Doctorate in Philosophy.”

“That’s good. Are you going to become a professor?”

“Most likely.”

“Well you do know the Dean, so you could easily get a job at Silas.”

“About that, I guess now is a good time to mention the fact that the Dean is actually my mother, not a friend.”

“I figured that out.” Laura smiles. 

“How?

“You look a lot like your mother, there was no way she was just a friend of your father’s. And I put two and two together and realized that your father is Dr. Karnstein, the Dean of Medicine at the hospital. Karnstein isn’t a common name, and I would say it isn’t a coincidence that you have your father’s eyes.” She explains with a smirk.

“You’re observant.”

“When you’re a mother, it’s an instinct that makes itself known when you have kids.”

“I don’t know if I want to be a mother in my life.”

“Why is that?” She asks as our food gets placed in front of us.

“I don’t feel like I’d make a good parent.” I shrug as I begin eating.

“You’re young, you’re going to feel that way now, but once things happen and you have that baby placed in your arms, you’re opinion on how well of a parent you’re going to be changes almost instantly. I felt the same way, even when I decided to have kids; I thought I was crazy for considering it, and then I held my daughter for the first time, and to know that I was responsible for another life freaked me out a little, until I got the hand of it, and started to see her grow up and learn something new with every passing day, I appreciate not giving into my inner thoughts on the matter.” Laura explains with a smile. “So don’t doubt yourself just yet.”

“I guess not.”

“You seem like the type of person that would prefer being alone.”

“I think I would like to, I don’t really know yet.”

“You have time. Don’t do things to make people happy, you should only make yourself happy.”

“I know, Laura.” I say quietly.

 

-Laura POV-

Carmilla and I walked out of the restaurant hand in hand. “Where did you park?” She asks quietly.

“This way.” I chime, leading her towards my car.

“Wanna know something funny?”

“What’s that?”

“I pinned you as a mini van Mom.” She says with a smile.

“Oh really? Are you shocked at the fact that I drive an Audi?”

“It’s not as nice as mine.” She shrugs.

“Oh, oh that’s how it is.” I tease, causing Carmilla to smile shyly.

“You have the SUV, what is that the Q3?”

“Yeah.”

“I have an A3, convertible.”

“Can I guess the color?” I ask playfully, turning to lean against the back of my car and face her.

“If you want to.” She shrugs, hesitating as she places her hands on my waist.

“Black.”

“Nope.”

“Really? You seem so punk and you don’t have a back car? How about red?”

“Still no. You’re profiling me or something.” She chimes.

“Stereotyping.” I say quietly, tucking her hair behind her ear. “So?”

“It’s blue.”

“I wouldn’t have guessed that.”

“Well it is, I loved it when I saw it. It’s the only think that isn’t black, white, or grey that I own.” She smiles.

“Have I ever told you that I like your smile?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well I do, I’ve liked your smile since I first saw it.”

“Well I like your smile too.” She whispers.

“I have to go.” I say, resting my forehead on her shoulder.

“I know. But I’ll see you again soon.”

“Of course you will. Monday is the final, and the after that we will be okay.”

“Except for the fact that you have kids, and are still figuring things out with your wife.”

“But that doesn’t mean I won’t make time for you.” I say, placing my hands on her cheeks.

“I’m the other woman.”

“Come on Carmilla. You’re turning into more than just ‘the other woman’.”

“I’ll let you go. I don’t want you to run late or anything.” She says, beginning to walk away from me. “Thank you for the nice evening.”

“Thank you for dinner, you didn’t have to pay.” I say.

“It wasn’t an issue, the least I could do.” She shrugs, smiling and giving me a small wave before turning around and walking towards her car. 

* * *

I walk into the house to find it quiet. The only noise coming from Reagan’s stereo upstairs, louder than it should be. I kick off my shoes and rub my feet before making my way up to her room. I knock on the door before opening it, I look in to see her writing in her journal and sitting in the middle of the bed. “Hi Mom.” She smiles, looking up at me.

“Hey sweetie, lower that a bit.” I say, watching Reagan do as she’s told. “How is everything?”

“Good, Jack is at Tucker’s and Mama left.”

“Mama left?” I ask. “Where the hell did she go?”

“I don’t know, she just left and said to tell you she’ll be back later.”

“How long ago was that?”

“About an hour.”

“Oh, okay.” I say, hearing the door slam downstairs.

“Laura!” Danny shouts stomping up the stairs.

“Are you going to argue again?” Reagan sighs.

“You can turn your music up.” I say quietly, walking out of her room.

“What the fuck?” Danny says, shoving past me and into our room.

“Me what the fuck? You’re the walk barreling into the house, I’m surprised the pictures are still hanging!” I say, closing the door as we walk into our room.

“Where were you tonight?”

“I had a meeting.”

“A meeting?” She asks, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Yes, a meeting.”

“A meeting with some bimbo!”

“What do you mean?”

“I was on my way back from my parents’ and I drove past that French restaurant you like and saw you outside with someone that looks like a fucking vampire!”

“The fuck does that mean?”

“Who was she?”

“No one.” I say, walking into the bathroom.

“Don’t play stupid! Tell me Laura!” She shouts, slamming her hand against the wall causing me to jump. “Who is she?” She asks calmly this time, with tears in her eyes. “Who is she? Who is she? Who is she?” Danny repeats uncontrollably as she begins to break down, sitting on the floor as she cries. “Who is she?” She whispers.

“A friend.”

“Just a friend?”

“Y – yes.” I lied.

“Bullshit.”

“What do you want me to say?”

“The fucking truth would be fantastic.” Danny spat. “You’re having an affair.”

“I’d hardly call it that.”

“No matter what is going on, we’re still married!”

“I’d barely call this a marriage! We are so far from what being married is supposed to me. I need someone who is a sure thing.”

“That is a sure thing?”

“You don’t know anything about it. I don’t want you chastising me.”

“Really, you don’t want me chastising you? No matter what I’ve at least been faithful.”

“You could have fooled me, faithful is the furthest thing I would even think of. Don’t think I haven’t caught on to your minor flings.”

“So we’re finished now.”

“We have been finished for a while, that’s why I gave in to my feelings.”

“I’m calling the lawyer in the morning.” Danny says, standing up and going into the closer. She gets a duffle bag and begins throwing her clothes into it.

“Where are you going?” I sigh, pinching the bridge if my nose. 

“I’m not staying here, I’ll go stay at Betty’s.”

“Oh, yeah. Perfect, go be with _your_ side piece.”

“It’s not like it matters anymore.”

“Bye Danny.” I say, walking out of our bedroom. I make my way into Reagan’s room, to hear that she has turned off her stereo and was just laying on her bed looking up at the ceiling.

“Who’s moving out?” She asks, not looking at me.

“Mama, most likely.”

“Do I have to go live with her?”

“You’re old enough to make that choice yourself.” I say, walking over and lying next to her. “You don’t have to feel guilty if you don’t want to live with her.”

“I don’t want to. I want to stay here.”

“So that’s how it will be, you’ll still see your mother, and you can see her whenever you want to.”

“Did you cheat on her?” Reagan asks, turning to look at me. I swallowed hard, trying to think of something to say that wouldn’t be incriminating.

“I broke a vow I made to your mother when I married her. It got to the point where I needed to feel better again, Mama wasn’t making me happy anymore.”

“I know. But you still did something bad.”

“We both did bad things, there’s no denying that. We’re adults and we made poor choices.”

“It seems complicated.”

“It is, I don’t want you worrying about anything.” I say, brushing her hair off her forehead. “We still love you.”

“Are you going to see someone else? Or are you going to be alone forever?”

“Well, remember that day at the mall, were we ran into my student?”

“Carmilla? I just realized she named after the title character of a vampire novella that predates Dracula!”

“You’re so smart, but yes, Carmilla.” I say with a smile. “She and I have been seeing each other.” 

“Isn’t she really young?”

“Yeah, but she has an old soul.” 

“Is she going to come around a lot?”

“Not until we’re ready, we’ve only seen each other for coffee and that’s who I went out with tonight.”

“Oh okay. Have you kissed her?” Reagan asks wiggling her eyebrows.

“No, we haven’t kissed.”

“Do you like her enough?”

“I think I do.”

“Go for it then, Mom.”

“I think I should wait to settle everything with, Mama.”

“Okay. I’d like to see Carmilla again, meet her for real and talk to her.”

“Before you know it kiddo.” I say, kissing her forehead. “I’m going to go get your brother.”

“Okay.” I get out of her bed and walk back into my room, changing into yoga pants and a t-shirt before leaving the house to get Jackson. I look over to see Danny’s car was no longer in the driveway, with a sigh I walk up the block and knock on the door to Perry’s house.

“Hey, Frosh.” Laf chimes, letting me in the house. “Everything okay?”

“Danny left.”

“Shit, I’m sorry to hear that.” They say, giving me a hug.

“Yeah.” I say, crossing my arms over my chest. “Where’s Jack?”

“He and Tucker are upstairs playing some game. Do you want me to get him?”

“Yeah, Rae is home alone and I don’t want her by herself for too long.” 

“No problem.”

“Hi, Laura.” Perry smiles. “How is everything?” She asks, walking over and giving me a hug.

“We’re finished.” 

“Officially.”

“We’re making the phone call in the morning.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It is what it is.”

“Hi Mommy!” Jack says, rushing over and wrapping me in a hug.

“Hey, Monk.” I say, kissing the top of his head.

“Hi Auntie Laura.” Tucker chimes.

“Hey, Sweetie.”

“Can Jackson come over again tomorrow?”

“We’ll see, sweetie.” Perry chimes, running her fingers through her son’s hair. 

“Thank you Auntie Perry.” Jack smiles, giving her a hug before moving to hug Laf. “Thank you Laf.”

“You’re welcome, kiddo.” They smile. Jackson and I leave hand in hand, walking back home.

“Where’s Mama?” He asks, noticing her car wasn’t in the driveway.

“We’ll talk about it when we get inside.”

“She left, didn’t she?”

“She did.” I say, opening the door.

“Do I have to live with her now?”

“No, you don’t have to.” I say, kneeling down to be at eyelevel with him.

“Do I get to see her?”

“Of course, whenever you want to, you can see her whenever you want. I’m not going to stop you from seeing her, she’s still Mama.”

“Okay.” He says. “Can I go play my games?”

“You can go play your games.” I say as I kiss him on the cheek and watch as he runs upstairs, I walk into my office, closing the door as I walk over to my desk, turning on the computer to begin reading through and replying to emails. Soon after my phone started ringing, I reach for it blindly answering it. “Hello?”

 _“Hey, Laura.”_ Carmilla says shyly on the other end. _“I – is it okay for me to call you?”_

“Of course it is.”

_“I just wanted to make sure you got home okay.”_

“That’s sweet of you.” I smile.

_“I have my moments.”_

“You seem like one of the sweetest people I’ll ever meet.”

_“Thank you.”_

“You’re welcome. Do you want to get coffee tomorrow morning?” 

_“Really?”_

“Yeah, really. I’m free after nine, I just have to get my son to school.”

_“Okay.”_

“I’ll see you tomorrow morning then. Ten o’clock at that café by campus.”

_“Ten o’clock.”_

“Bye, Carmilla.”

_“Bye Laura.”_


	5. Chapter 5

-Carmilla POV-

I pull up in front of the small café when my phone starts to ring; I look down to see it was, Laura. “Hey, I just go here.”

_“Really?”_

“Yeah, why?”

_“I have to cancel. I’m so sorry, Carmilla. I have an emergency meeting with my lawyer and I can’t miss it, can we reschedule?”_

“Y – yeah, that’s fine.” I say quietly. “Whenever it’s good for you.”

_“I’ll call you. Let you know everything that’s going on later.”_

“Okay.”

 _“I really am sorry, Carm.”_ She says quietly.

“It’s really okay, you have a lot going on and I understand that. Just call me later when you have a minute.”

 _“Of course I will.”_ Laura says before hanging up. I toss my phone on the passenger seat and sit there for a minute. I sigh, getting out and getting coffee anyway. I go back to my apartment where Ell is nowhere to be found. I make my way into my room, trying to clean it as best as possible before getting bored and grabbing a book from the shelf, throwing myself on my bed and reading. Soon my phone begins ringing.

“Hello?”

_“Carm?”_

“Hey, Laura.” I say, sitting up a bit. “Is everything okay?”

 _“Yeah, I just wanted to hear your voice.”_ She whispers sweetly. _“I’m going in to talk to the lawyer and, I don’t know, I just want to talk to you.”_

“It’s okay, whatever you want, I’m here.”

_“What are you doing in about an hour or so?”_

“Studying, most likely.”

_“Can you meet me somewhere?”_

“Where?”

_“Down by the beach? If that’s okay with you.”_

“No problem. Call me when you’re ready.”

_“I will.”_

-Laura POV-

I take a deep breath as I walk up the steps to office building, seeing Danny standing in the lobby by the elevator, most likely waiting for me.

“Hi.” She says quietly.

“Are you really trying to talk to me?”

“Sorry.” She says, pushing the button that leads to the lawyer’s office after stepping into the elevator, I tried to distract myself from the fact that Danny and I were in an enclosed space; thankfully the ride up wasn’t too long before we were walking out into the office of our lawyer. Danny walks over, letting the receptionist know we were here. “We can go right back.”

“Okay.” I say, leading the way back into the office, I walk in to see the smiling face of our lawyer.

“Hello ladies.”

“Hi Mattie.” I smile as she gives me a quick hug.

“I’m sorry for the circumstances for which I have to see you, but I still hope all is well. How are the little ones?”

“They’re doing well. Going through the motions.” I say as I sit down.

“Okay. So seeing as you want to make this painless, you’re willing to have Danny’s rights remain the same, have joint-custody, have her pay for what she should pay for, all that fun stuff. Danny can see the kids as willingly as she wants with your consent and the kids are free to see her whenever they want, but she gets them every other weekend regardless.”

“Pretty much, there isn’t anything to object to.” Danny says with a nod. “Laura keeps the house, obviously. We never had joint accounts so there isn’t anything like that. Although whatever stocks we’ve invested in together, I get half of what we make from that.”

“That money was supposed to be for the kids…”

“But now I’ll need the money, I don’t make nearly as much as you do to be able to sustain on my own…”

“Fine, I don’t care, my half I’ll split between the kids. I just want to get this done and over with as soon as possible, please.”

“It still has to be approved by a judge.” Mattie says, looking over the paperwork in front of her.

“Can you expedite it?”

“I can do what I can, but it may take a while. Right now you are legally separated when you sign this, but the final divorce will be put through when it gets put through.”

“Okay.” I say. Danny and I sign the papers we need to, making sure everything was taking care of before leaving Mattie. I walk out of the office, Danny trailing behind me.

“Laura!” I hear her call out as we leave the building. I do my best to ignore her before she reaches out and put her hand on my shoulder. “Laura.”

“What, Danny?”

“Are you okay?”

“We’re getting a divorce, how do you think I feel? And I mean realistically.”

“Shitty.”

“That’s right, shitty, I feel as though I wasted fifteen years of marriage and twenty years of overall friendship on you.” I say, trying to keep my composure. And now, I have to go into a mode of sharing with you more so than before. It isn’t fair to me or the kids.”

“Well you have a new person in you life, so it isn’t going to be that big of a deal.”

“Don’t bring that into this, we were doomed before I ever met her.”

“What’s her name?” Danny asks, looking down at the sidewalk.

“That isn’t any of your business.” I say, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Fair enough. I’m going to start getting my things, I was able to find an apartment fairly quickly.”

“You can get your stuff whenever you want, you can keep the keys even, I’m serious. I’m not going to keep you away from the kids, they are still yours as much as they are mine, just no unexpected popping in.”

“I understand.” She says quietly.

“I’ll see you around, Danny.” I say, walking away from her. I get to my car and call, Carmilla. “Hey.”

_“Hey.”_

“Can I see you?”

_“Of course, I’ll meet you at the beach like you said.”_

“Okay.” 

* * *

I pull up to the small stretch if beach to see Carmilla sitting on a bench, reading a book. I smile; something about her like this feels like home, a feeling I rarely ever got with Danny. I pull into a spot, checking my hair and make up before getting out. I kick off my shoes, picking them up before walking over to where Carmilla was. I walk up behind her, wrapping my arms around her shoulders. “Do you ever not read?” I whisper in her ear, feeling her shiver a bit.

“What can I say? I love reading.” She smiles, marking her page and turning to face me. She studies my face, glancing down at my mouth before looking into my eyes. “They changed.”

“What?”

“Your eyes, they changed. They have more green in them today.” She whispers, placing her hand on my cheek, I lean into her touch, a small smile creeping onto my face.

“Come on.”

“Are you going to walk on the beach like some cliché?” Carmilla teases as I take her hand in mine, pulling her up to her feel.

“Of course.” I smile, wrapping her arm around my shoulder.

“What happened with the lawyer?”

“We signed so papers, agreed to different things. We have to wait for a judge to finalize everything. Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“Do you know a Mattie Belmonde?”

“Why?”

“Cause I saw a picture of you and her hanging in her office.”

“She’s my sister.” Carmilla says quietly.

“Really?”

“Yeah, my parents adopted her before I was born, my mother was told she really couldn’t have kids, and then I was a surprise that came along with complications, so then they adopted my little brother.”

“I see.”

“She’s your lawyer?”

“Yeah, Danny has known her for a while. I don’t know how they met, I think she was Mattie’s physical therapist or something.” I shrug.

“Yeah, Mattie had a bad accident a while back.” Carmilla says, a silence then falling between us.

“Don’t let the silence win.” I say, stopping to face her.

“It’s hard some times. I’ve got a lot on my mind.”

“Like what.” I say, wrapping my arms around her.

“Finals, I have a paper I have to work on, I have to study…”

“Am I distracting you?”

“I wouldn’t call it that.” She says, resting her forehead on mine.

“Then what is it?”

“Conflict.”

“Of what kind?”

“Being attracted to you.”

“What about it?”

“It feels like it should be wrong because you’re my professor, and getting a divorce, like is that my fault?”

“No.” I say firmly. “What is taking place between Danny and I was a long time coming. It has nothing to do with you at all.”

“I’m still going to feel as though I have something to do with it.”

“Don’t be insecure. It isn’t worth it.” I say, holding her face in my hands. “Whatever this is going on between us is something I really wouldn’t trade for anything. I feel different when I’m with you. A good different.”

“I feel a good different with you too.” She says quietly.

“So just be yourself. There is no reason to hide anything, or be nervous. I mean it.”

“I’ll try my best. You’re technically still my professor, and your divorce isn’t finalized, so I don’t know if that has something to do with it, but I don’t want you to think that this is how I am all the time. I just have a lot on my mind and think once everything is done and I’m out of your class, things will fall into place.” She shrugs.

“Do you like me?”

“Of course, I wouldn’t be standing here if I didn’t.”

“So, let that be the driving force to get you to open up.”

“I’ll do my best.” She says, resting her forehead against mine. “For you, I’ll do my best.” 

* * *

“The day has come!” I announce, walking into the lecture all just after class started. “Anyone dropping?” I ask, putting my things down on the desk and looking up to see everyone still sitting. “Great. If you could, please sit every other seat, you have until the end of class to complete it, if you need an extra few minutes, let me know. Other than that, books away, bags away. If I catch you cheating it an automatic fail, you guys are old enough to know that. There is no reason to cheat with this test anyway, it’s easy, I promise.” I say as I begin to hand out the tests. “Start when you get it.” Carmilla was the last to receive the test; I look down at her and smile. She smiles as she takes the test, giving me a small nod before beginning. I make my way back down to the best, making myself comfortable as I look over the class, the faint sound of pens against paper the only noise filling the room. It took about forty-five minutes for the bulk of the class to be done, as they left I wished them a great summer and best of luck with whatever they do, although some of them I could care less what they did. I realize that Carmilla was the only person left after the last couple of students filed out. She jumped up and walked over to me with a smile. “You happy I made it easy?”

“Of course.”

“Did you only just finish?” I ask, taking the paper from her.

“No, I finished like half an hour ago. I just didn’t want to leave early and then come back or wait until the end to talk to you. That may have looked weird.”

“I guess you’re right.”

“Did I answer everything?” She asks as I look over her exam.

“I’ll let you know when it’s graded.” I chime.

“Really?” She asks with a smirk.

“Yes, really. I want to be fair.”

“Well then.”

“Are you busy later?”

“I shouldn’t be, why?”

“Do you want to come over? My dad is taking my son and my daughter is staying at a friend’s…”

“You’re inviting me to your house?” 

“Is that a bad thing?”

“No. Well, since it’s just going to be you.”

“It’s the first time I’ll be completely alone in the house in a long time.” I explain.

“So you want me to come over, essentially to kill a spider if you see one?” She teases.

“Not just that, but killing spiders is a plus.” 

“What time would you want the spider watching to begin?”

“Around seven or eight. I can text you exactly when as soon as my son gets picked up. Unless I drop him off.” I shrug.

“Okay. Just text me the address, I have no problem coming over.” She smiles.

“I look forward to seeing you later.”

“I look forward to see you, too.” 

* * *

“Are you sure you don’t want to come by for a little bit?” My dad asks as I walk him and Jackson out to the car.

“I’m fine, Dad. Really a friend is coming over to keep my company for a little while?”

“What friend? Is it a new friend?”

“Yeah, a new friend. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but right now they are just a friend.”

“Her name is, Carm. She’s mommy’s student.” Jackson chimes, looking up from his game.

“Laura.” My dad says with a warning tone.

“Dad, it’s nothing… right now.”

“Is she still your student? I know you’re an adult and this is college we’re talking about, but still.”

“As of today, she is no longer my student in an official capacity.”

“Don’t be stupid, you know I don’t like it when you’re stupid.”

“Jack, go in the car for a second, grandpa will be right there.” I say, watching as Jackson runs over to my dad’s car. “I like her, Dad.”

“How old is she?”

“At least twenty-three.” I say shyly. “I would assume, I don’t really know how old she is.”

“As long as you aren’t old enough to be her mother.”

“Dad, I’m barely forty.”

“Your at that age were you’re going to be ‘barely forty’ for the next ten years before you move into being ‘barely fifty’.”

“Did Mom do that? That sounds like something Mom did.” I say quietly. I look up when I hear someone pulling up behind me in the driveway. I smile.

“Is that her?” My dad asks, looking over to see Carmilla getting out of the car.

“Yeah. If you didn’t insist on talking to me you wouldn’t be meeting her prematurely, and I didn’t think she would be here so soon.” I explain as she begins walking up to me. “Hi.”

“Hey.” She says shyly.

“This is my dad. Dad, this is Carmilla.”

“Sherman Hollis, nice to meet you. Ex Police Chief of Silas, and head of the safety committee at Silas Elementary and Middle Schools.” He introduces himself with a handshake.

“That’s some way to introduce yourself, Sir.”

“Thank you.” He says with a smile and nod. “I would love to stay and chat but that little monkey in there is as impatient as his mother was at that age.” He says, giving me a hug. “Be good, Sweetie. If you need anything call me.”

“I know, Dad.” I say, following him to the car. “Bye Jack.” I say, opening the door where her was sitting. “Have a good time with grandpa. If you need me for anything, you know to call me.”

“I know, I know. Tell Carm I said ‘hello’.” He smiles, leaning to kiss me on the cheek. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Monkey.” I close the door and walk back over to Carmilla while my dad backed out of the driveway. I walk over to Carmilla and smile. “Come on.” I say, taking her hand in mine, feeling her lace our fingers together as we walk up to my house. “Welcome.”

“You have a nice house.”

“Thank you. Do you want anything?”

“Water, please.” She says as I lead the way into the kitchen, grabbing two bottles of water from the fridge. I then lead the way to the living room, plopping down on the couch. “So.”

“Wanna watch a movie?” 

“What movie?”

“Whatever you want.” I say, turning on the TV and putting on Netflix. 

“Can we talk first?”

“What do you want to talk about?”

“The fact that you hang out with gingers.”

“Really?” I chuckle.

“No on knows three gingers, no one at all.” 

“I do.” I say, getting up and taking a picture from the shelf by the TV. “The curly haired one is Perry, the short haired one is Laf.”

“That’s the one that blew up the science building.”

“I know.” I say, rolling my eyes. “And the one next to me is my ex wife.” 

“You were married to a skyscraper?"

“I know she’s really tall. This picture was from when we were young, I only knew her for about six months and we were fast friends. Laf and Perry I’ve known since middle school.”

“I don’t know if we can see each other anymore.” Carmilla says seriously.

“You’re a jerk.” I say, hitting her playfully.

“I can’t believe how short you are compared to her.”

“She was six feet, I’m five-three.”

“Wow. At least you don’t have to strain you neck to look at me.” She smiles, facing from where she sat on the couch.

“What?” I say, getting up to put the picture back.

“Nothing.” She says, shaking her head. “What do you wanna watch?”

“Whatever you pick.”

“No, you can pick. Really.”

“Do you wanna binge watch something?” 

“Sure.” Carmilla shrugs, taking a sip from her water bottle.

“Stranger Things?” I ask, looking at her with a smile.

“Stanger Things it is.” She smiles. At by the end of the fifth episode, it was well after midnight. There was popcorn, empty water bottles and soda cans all around where we sat, cuddled up together under my big Hogwarts Crest blanket. I look over to see Carmilla staring blankly at the TV. “You want to watch one more?”

“I want to know what the fuck that thing was! But at the same time it’s nearly one in the morning.” She says, lulling her head to the side as she rests it against the back of the couch. “We both know one more will turn into two, and then we’ll be watching the sunrise as we watch the season finale.”

“Not like that’s a bad idea.” I say, wrapping my arms around her waist a little tighter than they already are.

“I know what you’re trying to do, and I think it’s too soon to spend the night. Even if the night is spent binging.” She smiles, brushing the hair from my face. “Call me old fashioned if you want.”

“I think you’re just respectful.”

“I am.” She smiles. “We can always pick up where we left off next week.”

“Well, we could. Or Danny gets the kids tomorrow night, so, you can always come back.”

“It’s Thursday? I have to work tomorrow night.”

“So next week. Once the kids are out of school, they will always being going somewhere and doing something, it’ll be easier.”

“When are they done?” Carmilla asks, getting up from the couch, picking up some of the garbage the gathered around us.

“They finish next Friday. I’ll take care of this mess, don’t worry.”

“No, I’ll help.” She says, gathering empty cans and bottles. “Do you recycle?”

“Under the sink in the kitchen.” I say, following her lead with the empty popcorn bowl in my hand, I put in on the counter while Carmilla puts everything in the bin under the sink; she stands up straight and looks at me with a smile.

“Thank you again.” She says.

“Thank you for coming here to keep me from being lonely for too long.” I chime, wrapping my arms around her shoulders.

“You can always adopt a dog or something.”

“Is that a nice way of saying you don’t want to be around me?”

“No, it’s just a suggestion. I know I would have a dog if my landlord approved, like yeah I have my friend, Ell, living with me, but there are times she isn’t there and I get lonely, or nervous something will happen.” She shrugs, wrapping her arms around me.

“Maybe I’ll take the kids and go look. A gift of sorts to get their minds off the divorce, and they’ve been begging for years.”

“Just make sure you adopt. There is no reason to put money in the pocket of a breeder when you can save a dog’s life.”

“Trust me, I’m on that bandwagon. I would only adopt.”

“Good.” She says, resting her forehead against mine. “I should get going.”

“Okay.” I smile, leading her to the door; I slip on my shoes as Carmilla puts on hers before going outside and walking her to her car. “Let me know you get home okay.”

“I will.” She says as we walk to the driver’s side. “I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Of course.” I smile, feeling bold I decide to kiss her on the cheek, causing her to blush. “Goodnight, Carmilla.”

“Goodnight, Laura.” She smiles, trying to hide the blush on her cheeks by getting in the car quickly. I wave to her as she backs out of the driveway; she waves back with a smile before driving off down the street.


	6. Chapter 6

-Laura POV-

“Hi Mom!” Jack shouts, running into the kitchen.

“Hey Sweetie. How was school?”

“Good, I got a hundred on my math test.” He says, pulling the paper out of his bag and shoving it in my face.

“Awesome job. Go hang it on the board if you want to.” I say, kissing the top of his head.

“How was your time with, Carm?” He asks, wiggling his eyebrows as he sits at the island in the kitchen. I roll my eyes, handing him a piece of apple.

“What does that mean?”

“Did you do any grown up things?”

“We binge-watched Stranger Things.”

“Am I allowed to watch it?” He asks, sitting up on the stool.

“You’re allowed to watch it, but not by yourself, you may get a little scared.”

“Okay, can I watch it with you?”

“When I finish it with, Carmilla, I’ll watch it again with you.” I smile.

“Is Carmilla your girlfriend?” He asks with a mouthful of apple.

“That is something for she and I to discuss, and for you to not worry about.”

“But I want to know.”

“Well, when we know, you’ll know. Okay? You and Reagan will both know when Carmilla and I know what’s going on.”

“Okay, Mom.” He says, looking down at his plate. “I like Carmilla. She’s nice.”

“She is nice, would you mind if she ever came over while you were around?”

“I wouldn’t, I don’t know about Reagan.”

“Well, she’ll be home from practice soon so I’ll talk to her when she’s home.”

“Okay.”

“Do you have any homework?”

“Just a worksheet.”

“Get it going, Kiddo.” I smile, watching him go through his backpack, getting out his folder.

“Hey Mom!” Reagan calls out, walking into the kitchen.

“Put your lacrosse stuff in the washer and closer the door.” I say, pointing to the laundry room. She walks over, doing as she’s told. “Shower and get back down here so we can talk, did you do your homework?”

“Yes mom, I did it before practice.” Reagan says, walking to get a drink from the fridge. “Yeah, I’ll let you check.”

“Thank you. Do you want to eat or wait for dinner?”

“What’s for dinner?”

“Chicken and rice. It’s Perry’s recipe.”

“So it’s going to actually taste good.” She teases.

“You don’t have to eat.”

“I’m only kidding, Mom.” Reagan smiles, kissing my cheek.

“Go shower, you smell really bad.” After Reagan came back downstairs, she sits down beside Jackson, placing her notebook in front of her for me to check her homework. I go over it quickly, having piece of mind she actually did it. “Thank you. Can you get plates?”

“No problem. Are we sitting at the table or…?”

“Counter, no reason to sit at the table.” I say, bringing the pan to the counter and putting a potholder under it. “Don’t touch, okay?”

“Yes Mom.” Jackson chimes, putting his worksheet away. “Why are we eating so early today?”

“Cause sometimes it’s nice to have a meal early.” I shrug, moving a chair to sit across from Reagan and Jackson. “And you’re going to Mama’s tonight, remember?

“Oh yeah, I forgot.” Jackson says with a full mouth.

“Jackson you know not to talk with your mouth full at the table.” I warn.

“Sorry Mom.” He smiles, wiping his face with his napkin.

“So.”

“Here we go. What are you going to tell us?” 

“Rae, please.” I say, serving her a plate of food. “I just want to talk to you about something, if you don’t agree to it, I won’t continue doing it.”

“Are you drinking? Doing drugs?”

“God, no! Just listen.” I sigh, handing Jackson a plate. “So, your bother only knows because he was here yesterday, but Carmilla came over…”

“The girl we met in the mall?”

“Yes.”

“Is she your girlfriend no or something?”

“Well, I wouldn’t call it that. I just want to know how you feel if it did turn into that?” I ask, watching Reagan carefully.

“Is she nice to you?” She asks, pushing around some food on her plate before taking a bite and looking at me.

“Yes, she is.”

“Then it doesn’t matter, because as long as she is nice there’s nothing wrong.”

“Pretty much. Would you mind if she came by ever?”

“No, she seemed really nice when we met her, I would like to get to know her more I suppose. I want to talk books with her.” Reagan chimes.

“Okay then.” I smile, beginning to eat dinner. 

* * *

My phone vibrates on the desk beside my keyboard as I worked on submitting final grades before the deadline for the deadline. I look and smile. Taking my glasses off and walk out of my home office. “Mom who’s here?” Jackson asks from the living room where he was playing video games.

“Carmilla.”

“Can she play a game with me?”

“We’ll see.” I say, opening the door.

“Hey.” She says quietly.

“Hey.” I smile, stepping aside for her to come in. “How are you?”

“I’m good.”

“They don’t mind that you’re going to be coming around, in fact I think you should brace yourself for the bombarding of questions you may get asked.”

“Like what?”

“Hi Carm, want to play a game with me?” Jackson asks, rushing over to us.

“Like that.” I smile.

“How about I spend some time with your mom first, then I’ll play all the games you want.” Carmilla asks, crouching down to be at eyelevel with him.

“I think that’s a good idea.” He nods. “When you’re ready, I’ll be in the living room. I’ll set it up so you can join quickly; I’m playing Lego Harry Potter on my PlayStation.

“Okay, I’ll be in soon.” She chimes, watching as he rushes back into the living room. “Where’s your daughter?”

“Reagan is with friends and she has lacrosse practice today, she won’t be home for a while.” I saw, walking into the kitchen. “Do you want anything?”

“Coffee, if it isn’t any trouble.”

“Not at all.” I smile, fixing her a cup. “I graded your final.” I chime nonchalantly.

“Oh really?” She asks, leaning back in the chair a bit.

“Yeah.” I say, handing her a cup of coffee. “Milk or sugar?”

“Black is fine. So what did I get?”

“I can’t tell you that.” 

“You wanna know something?”

“What?”

“I get the feeling that you’re a bad liar.” She says, taking a sip of coffee.

“What makes you say that?”

“You have a tell.”

“Which is?”

“You smile, a common tell for someone when they lie.” Carmilla shrugs.

“I can’t get anything pass you.”

“Nope. Now where’s my test?”

“In my office, I’ll be right back.” I say, walking into my office and getting some of her papers that I haven’t given back. “In case you want your final paper and whatever else I neglected to give back.” I say, putting the papers in front of her.

“I’m assuming I passed with an ‘A’?”

“I mean you sure as heck didn’t get a ‘B’.” I smile. “You’re a very bright young lady.”

“Thank you.” She says, looking up at me with a shy smile.

“Carm, did you have enough adult time?” Jackson asks, rushing into the kitchen and over to the fridge to get himself a drink.

“I think so, lets go play this game of yours. Can I bring this in there?” She asks, holding up her cup of coffee.

“Yeah, just don’t let Jack get to close to it.” I smile. “He tends to get a little excited when he plays his games.”

“One time I broke a lamp.” He chimes, causing Carmilla to laugh. 

“Well then, we’ll be careful, won’t we kid?” Carmilla says.

“I’ll try.” He says, dragging Carmilla into the living room. 

“I have a few things to finish up with and then I’ll be in.” I say.

“Take your time, I don’t mind being with the little guy.”

“Thank you.”

 

-Carmilla POV-

“So, how do we play this game?” I ask, sitting on the couch beside Jack.

“This button is jump, this is to cast a spell, and this is to change characters.” He says, pointing at the buttons. “Just follow me. Some of the things show you the button to use.”

“Okay, lead the way.” I say, following him through the game. A half an hour went by and I was finally getting the hang of it, much to Jack’s excitement.

“I like you, Carm. My Mama never played games with me, and Mommy is always working and gets frustrated playing. You’re nice.” He smiles, turning to look at me.

“I like you too, you seem like a nice kid.”

“Are you going to go out with my Mom?”

“Would that be okay with you?”

“Yeah.” He nods. “I think it will be good for Mommy. You’re nice and make my Mommy smile a lot.”

“Well as long as you’re okay with it, I’ll stick around.”

“Okay.” He smiles, wrapping my in a hug.

“Shit.” Laura says, walking into the room.

“Mommy, that’s not a nice word.”

“I know, I’ll put a dollar in the jar.” She says rolling her eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

“Danny is dropping off Reagan.”

“And?” I ask.

“You don’t care about seeing her?”

“Not really. I don’t want to let that bother me.” I say, watching as Laura walks over and sits beside me. “She’s very much a part of your kids’ lives as she still is a part of yours, there’s no reason for me to get all bent about it.”

“Why is it that people think your generation is falling through the cracks of some sort?”

“Because no one wants to admit that we actually have a set of morals and only complain about everything.” I say, rolling my eyes. “We aren’t all excessive.”

“I can see that.” She says with a small laugh.

“Are you gonna kiss?” Jackson asks. Laura looks at him with wide eyes as her face turns bright red, she looks at me and I couldn’t help but hide my smile.

“We haven’t kissed at all.” Laura admits quietly.

“Aren’t you supposed to kiss someone if you like them?”

“When it feels right and when you know the other person likes you back enough. And you never kiss anyone without them letting you know it’s okay first.”

“Okay, Mom.” The boy nods. “So just make sure you ask Carmilla before kissing her, and make sure you ask my Mom.”

“I would only ask your mom first, Kid.”

“Good.” He smiles.

“Hi Mom. Hi Carm.” Rae says as she walks into the house.

“Lacrosse clothes in the laundry!” Laura announces, pointing towards what I assumed to be the direction of the laundry room.

“I know, I know.”

“Hey.” Danny says, furrowing her brow as she walks into the room. “Are you her?” She asks, looking at me as she crosses her arms over her chest.

“I don’t know what that means. What does that mean?” I ask, looking at Laura.

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Okay.”

“Right.” Danny says, walking around the couch and sitting on the coffee table in front of me. “You’re the woman my wife was seeing?”

“Again, I don’t know what you mean by that.” I say, crossing my arms over my chest and sitting up a bit straighter.

“Don’t play stupid.”

“You can leave, and I can take it all away. Just remember that, Danny.” Laura threatens.

“Don’t be mean to, Carm. I like her.” Jackson chimes, getting in Danny’s face. “She’s nice and makes Mommy happy, not like you.”

“Jackson, don’t talk to your Mom that way, it isn’t nice.” I say, looking over at Laura nervously for reprimanding her son.

“Yeah, it isn’t nice. I’ve told you whatever is happening between Mama and I doesn’t reflect on you.”

“I’m sorry.” He says, bowing his head.

“Go up to you room for a little bit while Mama and I talk.” Laura says. He nods, stopping in front of me, waving me closer to him.

“Are you still going to be here?” He whispers in my ear.

“Yeah, yeah. We still have to finish this game, we almost finished it right?”

“Yeah, I think it’s the last level. We have to beat it.” The boy says excitedly, a wide smile on his face that reminded me of Laura.

“I’ll be here, we’re going to beat it before the day if over.”

“Cool!” He says, going up to his room. I look over to see a small smile on Laura’s face and a grimace on Danny’s.” I sigh, extending my hand to Danny. “I’m Carmilla.” She looks at me hand as if it was covered in garbage and she was going to contract something if she touched it. I retract my hand, reaching for my coffee. “Okay then.”

“What makes you think I want to shake your hand and be friends with you?”

“No one said anything about friends, I was just using manners.” I shrug. “I know you don’t like me, I can feel it radiating off of you, I’m in your house with your kids, your ex-wife, I get it. You think I’m the reason you got a divorce and that I wedged my way between you and your wife. Nothing like that happened, there is no reason to make me out to be the bad guy.”

“So how are you conveniently here a couple of weeks after my wife and I put the separation papers in?”

“Carmilla isn’t the issue, and you know that. Don’t take it out on her. She and I met and became friends, that it.”

“You seem a little too cozy to be just friends.” Danny says.

“Not like that’s any of your business.” Laura snaps. “Look, Danny. I don’t want to have to explain myself to you, there is no reason for you to pry, you don’t have the right.”

“I have the right to know who is around my kids.”

“Please, don’t pull that card out of your ass.” Laura says. “You and I both know how you feel about ‘your kids’.” She whispers, causing Danny to roll her eyes. “You just put up with them, you don’t love them.”

“I didn’t want to have them and you did, we know.” Danny whispers back. “You’re going to hold that over my head?”

“Until my last breath.”

“But I still assumed the right responsibility as their mother.”

“It doesn’t take away from the fact that you don’t love them as much as I do, or as much as a mother should.”

“Whatever.”

“I think you should leave.” Laura says, looking at Danny as she stormed out of the house. “I hate her.”

“You obviously liked her enough at some point if you married her and had a family with her.”

“Reagan and Jackson are mine. They are hardly Danny’s, she never had an interest in them, I did it all by myself. The only time she included herself was when I was delivering them and wanted her to put her name on the birth certificate.” She explains. “I regret even doing that. I wish I never gave her that right.” Laura says, resting her elbows on her knees and her face in her hands.

“We all have things we regret.” I say, rubbing her back. “I have my laundry list of things I wish I never did.”

“You did things you regret?” She says, looking over at me. “You seem like you’d never hurt a fly.”

“I have a bad past, Cupcake. I’ve done things and disappointed people. Disappointed my parents, hence why I have to really go to Silas, my mom wants to keep an eye on me.”

“That seems like a story for another day.”

“It is.”

“Did Mama leave yet?” Jackson calls from the top of the stairs.

“Yeah.” Laura calls out, leaning back against the couch. Soon there was the thumping sound of feet rushing down the stairs and into the room.

“Can we finish the game?” He asks, leaning into my personal space, causing me to laugh.

“Of course, but you have to ask you Mom, I don’t know if you have rules or not.”

“Just because Carmilla is here, I will let you finish the game.”

“Thank you, Mom.” Jackson says, giving Laura a hug.

“Do you plan on staying for dinner?”

“Do you mind me staying for dinner?”

“I don’t really want you to go.” Laura says quietly.

“Then I’ll stay for dinner.” I smile. “Are you cooking?”

“Yes, I’m going to make something quick, do you like turkey burgers?”

“I’m not picky.”

“Okay then, I’ll start on that.”

“Okay.”

“Here Carm.” Jack says, handing me the controller again.

 

-Laura POV-

I walk into the kitchen to find Reagan sitting at the counter staring at the placemat. “What’s wrong sweetie?”

“Did Mama really not want us?” She asks quietly, looking at me with tears in her eyes.

“You heard that?” I ask, walking over and wrapping my arms around her. “I’m sorry.”

“I know she didn’t really like us all that much, she always found something to be annoyed about when it came to Jack and I. I guess it all makes sense now.” She says quietly before crying into my shoulder. “I don’t want to see her again.”

“You don’t have to see her again. If you really don’t want to, you can make that choice, you’re old enough to know what you want and don’t want.” I say, kissing the top of her head. “I love you more than anything in the entire world. No matter what, I know I’ve given you enough love for you to not even realize the difference.”

“I feel like she lied to me though.”

“I know, and I hate her for that.”

“So do I.” Reagan says, wiping her eyes with a napkin. “I love you, Mom. I love you so much.”

“I love you so much too. There is no reason to ever doubt my love for you.” I say, brushing the hair away from her face.

“I know, Mom.” She smiles. “Is Carm still here?”

“Jack got his claws into her playing some game. So once they’re done, then I think you’ll have your time with her if you want it.”

“Okay, I’m going to go change and shower.”

“Okay, sweetie.” I say, kissing the side of her head before she gets up and walks out of the kitchen. 

* * *

“That was really good, Laura.” Carmilla says, picking up the plates and putting them in the sink. 

“Yeah, Mom. The sweet potatoes are my favorites.” Jackson chimes as he finished his milk. “Thank you.”

“Yeah, thanks Mom.”

“You are all very welcome.” I smile, finishing my water before clearing the rest of the table. “Jackson, you have to get ready for your shower, and Rae, you have to finish you paper.”

“Okay.” The kids say in unison as they walk out of the kitchen.

“Jack, pick out your pajamas!”

“Okay!” He calls back.

“Thank you, you didn’t have to help.” I say, walking over to rinse off the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher.

“I don’t mind; it’s the right thing to do.” Carmilla shrugs, opening the fridge.

“Those things go on the door, no where specific.”

“Okay.” She says, doing what was told. She closes the fridge and looks at me. “What?” She asks, making me realize I was staring at her a moment longer than I should have been. I take a step towards her, like a magnet pulling me towards her, the next thing I knew, I was throwing my wet hands around her shoulders, and kissing her as she wrapped her arms around my waist. The kiss went from hungry and hard to soft and gentle.

“I’m sorry.” I say breathlessly, resting my forehead against hers.

“You didn’t ask.” Carmilla says with a chuckle, leaning in and kissing me again.

“Neither did you.” I smile.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” I smile, kissing her again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment, let me know how you like it :)


	7. Chapter 7

-Carmilla POV-

“Hello?” I call out as I walk into my parents’ house.

“Hi, Sweetie.” My dad says, walking out of his office. “How are you?” 

“I’m good, Dad. How are you?”

“Good. Where’s your girlfriend?”

“What?”

“Your girlfriend?”

“Who said anything…?”

“Ell said you would deny it.” He chimes. 

“Oh my god.” I say, walking away and finding my mom on the porch in the backyard. I walk through the back door causing her to jump slightly. “Sorry.”

“Hello, Dear. How are you?”

“I’m good.”

“Where’s Laura?” She asks, not looking up from her book, she looks over at me with a small smirk on her face. The Karnstein smirk she has been able to perfect since knowing my father for so many years. “Oh, don’t act like I don’t know everything going on in your life.” She says. “Especially when you’re dating one of the professors at the school. You know better.”

“I know, but there is something about her…”

“Isn’t she married?”

“She was getting a divorce before we got together. And you’ll never guess who her lawyer is.” 

“Are you kidding, it’s Mattie?”

“Yep.” I say, laughing at my mother’s reaction.

“I can’t. It’s a small world.” Mother says, closing her book. “I want to meet Laura, I would like to get to know her on a different level.” 

“I’ll talk to her about it.”

“Bring her over for the Fourth of July party.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, why not. You two are adults, there’s nothing to hide. Tell her to bring her children too, they’ll have fun with your cousins.”

“I’ll talk to her about it later.”

“Wonderful. I’m happy you’ve met someone, I just want to know one thing.”

“What is that?”

“Have you been physical with her while she was your teacher?”

“Never. We only kissed yesterday.”

“Really?”

“Yes ma’am. We knew the line, and we knew not to cross it until I was officially through with being her student.”

“Okay. Again, I’m happy for you.” She smiles, kissing my forehead before going back into the house.

“Thank you Mom.” 

* * *

I walk up to the door and ring the bell, not long after Jackson is opening the door with a smile. “Hi Carm!” He says with a toothless grin. “Look, I lost another tooth.”

“Cool, did you get money?”

“Yeah, I got five bucks!”

“You’re richer than me.” I tease, giving him a high-five. “Where’s Mom?” I ask, closing the door as I step into the house. 

“She’s upstairs in her room getting dressed. She kept changing dresses.” Jack chimes. “I think she’s nervous.”

“Go let her know I’m here.”

“Okay.” He says, running up the stairs. “Mom! Carm is here!” I hear him call out.

“I could have done that!” I call up the stairs.

“She said you could come up here.” Jackson says from the top of the stairs. I walk up the stairs, taking in all the pictures on the wall of the stairwell of Jackson and Reagan. Ranging from them as babies to now, most of the pictures were of Laura and the two kids, only a few consisted of Danny with Laura and the kids, but those were few and far between. “That’s her room.” Jackson says, pointing to the door. I walk up to the door that was already open; I knock lightly and look over to see Laura smiling at me through the mirror before turning to face me.

“Hey.” She smiles, walking towards me.

“Hi.” I say, kissing her on the cheek.

“Can you do me a favor?”

“Of course.”

“Can you zip me up?” She says, turning her back to me and moving her hair out of the way. I do what is asked of me, kissing the side of her neck. “Thank you. Is this okay?” She asks, smoothing out the front of her blue dress with white and red polka dots on it.

“You look beautiful.” I smile. “Jack said you changed a bunch of times already.”

“Yeah, I did. But this was the first dress I tried on. I just didn’t know if it was good. This is the first time I’m going to see your mom as something more than my boss, and that scares me and makes me nervous.”

“Hey, don’t be nervous. There’s no reason to be nervous. She doesn’t invite colleagues to this party; it’s strictly family and close friends. My mother keeps her social circles far from each other. Work and friends don’t meet or cross at all.”

“Okay. I’m still nervous though.”

“Don’t worry.” I say, placing my hands on her waist. “I’ll be there, it’s not like you’ll be alone. And the kids will have fun. I have a bunch of cousins around their ages.”

“Okay.”

“Are you going to go swimming? Do Jack and Reagan know they’re allowed to go swimming?”

“Jack had his shorts on, and I know he’ll have no problem making friends and being outgoing, Reagan will take a little bit to warm up to everyone, but she knows she can pack a bag, I’m not swimming.”

“Okay.”

“Do you go swimming?” She asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Maybe.” I shrug. “You want to see me in a bikini don’t you?”

“I mean, if you’re offering.” She smiles

“Not today. Maybe one day here, I’ll go swimming in your pool.”

“Whatever it takes.” She teases, kissing me again. “Are you ready?”

“I should be asking you that.”

“As ready as I can be.”

“There is no reason to be nervous. Just know that.”

“Okay.”

“I promise. Everyone is going to love you, and love that fact that we’re together. Well, I mean, we haven’t made it official or anything, but I’d like to make it official, if that’s okay with you.” I ramble, looking down at my feet as I feel my face get hot.

“Hey.” She says gently, tilting my chin, I look up and see her smiling sweetly as she leans on to kiss me. “I’d love to call you my girlfriend.”

“Really?”

“I mean, my kids like you. I like you enough, it seems logical.”

“It does.” I nod, kissing her softly.

“Can you two stop gawking at each other, we have somewhere to be.” Reagan says from the doorway.

“This is true.” Laura says. “I just have to grab my bag. Rae, can you get your brother? Make sure everything is off in your room and his?”

“No problem.” Reagan says before leaving the room.

“Are you going to drive?” Laura asks.

“Do you want me to?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Your car may have more room than mine.”

“That’s true. We’ll take my car.”

 

-Laura POV-

“You guys can go have fun, just stay around by the pool and the kids usually play in the pool house, there’s a TV and food in there for you guys.” Carmilla explains as we walk up the path that leads to the backyard of her parents’ house.

“Okay, Carm.” Jackson chimes.

“Don’t forget to keep your things together.” I say; knowing Jack had a problem with losing and forgetting things.

“I know, Mom.” He sighs rushing over to the area where kids were playing. I smile as he introduces himself with a small wave.

“Reagan, I know my cousin, Sydney is about your age, maybe a year older but she is usually in the pool house watching TV or something, you two may get along fairly well, she loves to read.”

“Okay.” Reagan says shyly, walking over towards the pool house.

“Reagan! Put your things down and get Jack; I want you to meet Mr. and Mrs. Karnstein before you disappear.

“Okay!”

“They don’t have to meet my parent now.” Carmilla says as she takes my hand in hers.

“No, they don’t. If I don’t do it now, we’ll leave without having done it at all.” I explain as Reagan and Jack come over to us.

“Okay.” She says, leading the way to where her parents we on the porch. “Mom, Dad. This is Laura. Laura you already know my mother, Lilita and this is my father Peter.”

“It’s very nice to see you again Ms. Hollis.”

“Likewise Ms. Morgan.”

“Please, call me Lilita.”

“Okay, Lilita. Nice to meet you too Mr. Karnstein.”

“Please, Laura, call me Peter.” He says with a polite smile.

“Okay, Peter. These are my children Reagan and Jackson.” I say, placing a hand on each of their shoulders.

“It’s wonderful meeting you, you both look so much like your mother.” Peter smiles.

“I was going to say the same thing.” Lilita chimes. “Go run along and play, we don’t want to keep you any longer than you want us to.” She smiles, watching as they race back over to the pool area. “Can I get either of you anything? Laura would you like a drink?”

“No thank you. I don’t really drink.”

“Well, that’s good.” Lilita smiles. “Better for Carmilla to be around those who don’t, rather than those who do.”

“Mother, please.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t want to over step.” Lilita says, putting her hands up. “I didn’t mean to.”

“It’s okay, Mom.” Carmilla sighs. I give her hand a small squeeze, causing her to look at me curiously. 

“Laura?” I look over to see Mattie walking towards me with a smile. “Hello, what brings you here?”

“Well…”

“She’s kind of my girlfriend.” Carmilla chimes, wrapping her arm around me.

“Really?”

“Yeah. It’s a long story.” I say, looking at Carmilla with a smile.

“Can I say something?” Mattie says. “Was this a thing before or after?”

“More after. I mean, I met her before we officially came to you, but that doesn’t mean Carmilla has anything to do with us getting divorced.”

“Okay, just making sure. I wish you both the best.”

“Thank you.” Carmilla says with a smile.

“Yeah, thank you Mattie.” I say quietly.

“Enjoy the party, and I will see you on the 16th, don’t forget.”

“I won’t.” I say as she begins to walk away.

“Do you want anything?” Carmilla asks quietly.

“Something to drink.”

“Water? Wine? Beer?”

“Is there any grape soda?” I ask shyly.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure there is some in the cooler for the kids.” Carmilla teases, leading the way over to the pool house.

“Holy shit! Is this her?” A blonde woman asks, climbing out of the pool.

“Come on, Ell.” Carmilla sighs, rolling her eyes at the forwardness of the girl.

“Shut up, Kitty.” Ell smiles.

“Laura, this is my best friend for far too long, Ell. Ell this is Laura.”

“Nice to meet you.” I say with a small wave.

“Nice to meet you too. If Carmilla has said anything about it, it’s most likely a lie, and if she hasn’t said anything about me, it’s cause she _actually_ likes you enough to keep you from me.” Ell teases.

“Shut up, Ell. There are more important things than you.”

“You wound me.” Ell says, placing her hand over her heart. “We should go on a double date.”

“We’ll talk about it later.” Carmilla says

“Okay.” Ell chimes. “It was nice meeting you, Laura.”

“It was nice to meet you too.”

“Hey Mom!” Jackson says, swimming over to the edge of the pool. “You met Ell? She’s really pretty.” He says with a smile.

“Jack is your son?” Ell asks with a smile.

“Yeah, that little flirt is mine.” I laugh.

“He’s so freaking cute. I can’t even handle it. Are you nice to him?” She asks Carmilla.

“Jack and I are best friends.” Carmilla scoffs.

“We made bracelets.” Jack chimes, holding up his wrist to show off the black and purple bracelet Carmilla made him. Ell looks at Carmilla to see her hold up her wrist showing off a blue and red bracelet Jack had made her.

“Besties.” She chimes.

“Besties forever.” Jackson says with a laugh.

“Well, I never thought Carmilla would like kids, let alone make friendship bracelets.” Ell says with a laugh.

“He is the nicest kid I’ve ever met.”

“Thank you.” Jack says before he swims away.

“Can you just keep an eye on him. Let me know if anything happens, please.” I ask Ell before she jumps into the pool.

“No problem.”

“When he starts getting wrinkled, he has to come out for a bit.”

“I’ll keep an eye out.” She smiles, swimming towards him as he throws a ball in her direction.

“How long have you known Ell?”

“Since kindergarten.” She says, handing me a can of soda from the cooler. “I don’t know what it is, but we’ve been through a lot and she keeps me grounded.”

“That’s good.” I smile. “Are you okay?” I ask, caressing her cheek.

“Yeah, I just don’t like crowds.” She says quietly.

“Is there anywhere to go?”

“Inside. You can stay out here.”

“No, I’ll come in with you. I don’t know anyone, and Jack has his hooks in Ell.” I chime.

“Okay. Come on.” She says, leading the way into the house. It wasn’t an ostentatious house like I assumed it would be for a Doctor and Dean of Students. It was very conservative, except for a couple of top of the line appliances in the kitchen. The house was warm and inviting, something about it was cozy and comforting. “Do you want to watch TV or something?” Carmilla asks as we walk into the den.

“No, we’ll just sit quietly. If that’s okay.”

“Yeah.” She says, plopping down on the couch and closing her eyes as I sat down beside her. “I feel like you want to know something. You’re itching to ask.”

“What was your mom talking about earlier?”

“I had a drinking problem for quite a while.” She says, looking over at me.

“Do you think I’m going to look at you differently because of the fact that you suffered with addiction?” I ask, turning to face her better.

“I don’t know.” She shrugs. 

“Hey.” I say, making her look at me. “You’re recovering from something that you had a problem with, and if you didn’t tell me, I wouldn’t have known you had a problem. But I’m not going to let that change the way I see you. Like how would you react to me telling you I have bad anxiety that tends to be crippling some times?”

“I would do my best to help you through the times you’re hurting. As your girlfriend, I wouldn’t want to see you in a situation that could trigger something in you.”

“So there, I don’t want to trigger you and you don’t want to trigger me. We are at an agreement about that.” I smile, causing Carmilla to lean in and kiss me softly. “Your past doesn’t define who you are, Carmilla. It just adds to your story.”

“Same goes for you, Cupcake.” Carmilla whispers, kissing me again. “One day, when we’re alone, we’ll talk more about all of this, but until then, at least it’s out in the open.”

“That is true.”

“We better make our way back out there before they start looking for us or something.” Carmilla says, getting up from the couch and pulling me with her.

“Hey, Kitty!” A guy says, walking over and giving Carmilla a hug. “Who’s this?”

“Will this is my girlfriend Laura, Laura this is William, my brother.”

“Nice to meet you.” He smiles, extending his hand for me to shake.

“Likewise.”

“It’s good to see Carmilla has someone to keep her in line, Ell only takes it so far.” He says with a laugh. “How did you two meet?”

“We met at school.” Carmilla explains.

“That’s nice, I know the story, but some times you just need things clarified, you know?”

“Who told you?”

“Ell did, you know she can’t keep quiet all that much.” He shrugs. “Either way, it was nice meeting you Laura, next gathering we have I’ll make an effort to try and get to know you better.” He says before disappearing.

“Don’t mind him, he isn’t all that social the first time you meet him, he’ll warm up.” Carmilla says, brushing my hair behind my ear.

“That’s fine.”

“Carmilla! If you and Laura are hungry, your father said to come and grab something.” Lilita calls out.

“I should make sure Jack and Rae eat.” I say, getting up from the couch.

“Okay, I’ll be around.” She smiles, kissing me quickly as we make our way towards the door. “I’ll try to stay in one place.”

“Don’t worry about me.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’ll find you if I need you.” I say, kissing her again.

 

-Carmilla POV-

I watch as Laura walks towards the pool, calling Jack over to her before going to find Reagan. “You really like her?” I hear Mattie chime from behind me.

“Yes, I do.” I say quietly.

“Even the children?”

“I would do anything for them. I never felt that way towards a kid, but that son of hers, he has be wrapped around his finger already.” I smile.

“Reagan is sweet, but I haven’t spent as much time with her, she’s going through that age of just wanting to be alone, Laura says.

“Do they like you? Like do they care that you come over and stuff?”

“Not at all. We’ve discussed it with them, and Laura asks them if it’s okay before I come over, I never just pop in.”

“Laura is very protective of her children. She doesn’t want anything to happen to them, nor does she treat them like they don’t know anything or shouldn’t know anything.” 

“Yeah, she treats them like people. I like that she does that.

“I’ve known Laura for some time now, and one thing she will do is give you her whole heart, and trust you with it.” Mattie says, taking a sip from her wine glass. “Don’t smash it like her ex-wife did. Don’t brush her aside or take things she says lightly. Treat her like gold, make sure she’s happy.”

“I will, don’t worry.”

“She is older than you, Kitty. She sees things differently, there is a generational gap.”

“I know, Mattie. Regardless of age, I know I’m an old soul. I know how she should be treated.”

“She’ll be good for you. Rather than running around with some bimbo your age, you need someone with structure. Regardless of anything, she will provide that to a degree.”

“I know.” I say as I feel someone wrap their arms around my waist from behind. I turn slightly to see Laura with a smile on her face.

“Are you talking about me?” She asks playfully.

“Always.” I tease, kissing her forehead. “Are Jackson and Reagan okay?”

“Reagan is currently discussing books with a group of girls and a guy in the pool house, while Jack is flirting with any woman he can.” Laura says, rolling her eyes.

“Did they eat?”

“They did, Rae was eating something and Jack just got a burger from your dad.”

“What?” I ask Mattie when she gives me a look. 

“I never thought I’d see you worrying about children. Holy shit.”

“I have the tendency to give a shit some times.”

“I see that.” Mattie chimes.

“Oh leave Carmilla alone, she is very good with my kids.” Laura defends with a smile. 

“Thank you.” I smile, kissing Laura’s cheek.

“You two are disgustingly sweet.” Mattie says, making a face. “I need to drink more. Ta ta.”

“Bye Mattie.” I chime waving as she walks away. Once nightfall hit, everyone was gathering on lawn chairs while we waited for my dad and uncles to start setting off fireworks. Laura and I were sat in a blanket in the middle of the very large backyard, while Jackson was running around with a sparkler with some of the other boys, and Reagan was still with the group from before only they were across the yard waiting as well, soon the loud screeching and popping sounds filled the air I watched as Jackson stopped running and looked up in awe before running over and sitting on my lap.

“Can I sit here?” He asks, a wide smile on his face.

“Of course.” I say, ruffling his damp hair as he turns to look up at the colorful light fill the sky, red and blue lit up the sky the most, different shades of each with some green and white. I look over to see Laura looking up with a smile on her face, much like Jack’s.

“What?” She says, looking over at me with the smile still on her face.

“Nothing.” I say, shaking my head a bit before Laura leans in to kiss me, resting her head on my shoulder. 

* * *

“You got him?” Laura asks as I help carry Jack into the house.

“Yeah, we’re good.” I say, adjusting Jack on my hip a bit.

“Thank you for inviting us to come with you today, Carm. I had a lot of fun.” Reagan chimes as we walk into the house.

“No problem kiddo, I’m happy you had a good time, and made friends.”

“I’m happy too. Goodnight, I’ll see you later.” She says, kissing me on the cheek before saying goodnight to her mother. I then follow her up the stairs; Laura behind me as she tells me which room is Jack’s. We walk in and she turns on his nightlight as I lay him down on his bed. Laura makes sure to take off his shoes before pulling a blanket over him before kissing his forehead. I walk out of the room as she meets me in the hallway.

“Thank you.” She smiles, closing Jack’s door. “Thank you for helping me with Jack and for a wonderful day.”

“You’re welcome Cupcake.” I say, kissing her quickly. “I’m gonna get going.”

“Okay.” She nods, leading me downstairs. “I would ask you to stay…”

“It’s too soon for the kids to see me on the couch or in bed with you.”

“Exactly. At least you’re understanding.”

“I don’t want to overstep. You know that.”

“And I appreciate that.” She smiles, giving me a hug and kissing me on more time. “Goodnight, Carmilla. Let me know you got home okay.”

“I will.”

“Are you going to come by tomorrow?”

“I’ll let you know, I have to work, so maybe after.”

“Okay.”

“Goodnight, Cupcake.” I smile, kissing her cheek before walking out the door.


	8. Chapter 8

-Laura POV-

“Mom?” Reagan calls out as she walks out the back door.

“What’s up?” I ask from where I was laying on a pool float.

“Can you drive me to practice? Hanna can’t get me.”

“Sure.” I say, rolling into the water and swimming to get to the edge of the pool. “You know you’re with Mama tonight.”

“I know.” She sighs, rolling her eyes. “Do I have to go there?”

“Yes, I’m sorry. You have to go, you haven’t seen Mama and she wants to see you.”

“I guess.” 

“You’ll be alright, Jack is going to be with you so you won’t be alone.” I say, walking up to her. “You’re getting taller than me.” I chime.

“I know.” She smiles. “We have to go.”

* * *

 “Do I have to go with Mama?” Jack whines as the doorbell rings.

“Yes you do.”

“But I know Carm is going to come over and I wanna hang out with her.”

“Carm can’t come over tonight, she has to work so I’m going to be all by myself.”

“No you won’t you’ll go by Laf and Perry and have fun.” Jack whines following me as I answer the door.

“Hi.” Danny says quietly, setting into the house. “Hey, Kiddo.”

“Hi Mama.” Jack smiles, giving her a hug.

“You have to get Rae from practice at the high school, here’s her bag. Tomorrow I need to have them home before noon, we have plans.”

“No problem. Ready to go Kid?”

“I guess.” Jack says, turning to give me a hug. “I love you, Mom.”

“I love you too, sweetie. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I say, kissing the top of his head. He waves me to lean in closer so he would whisper something in my ear.

“If Carm comes over tell her I said hello and that the juice is in the bottom drawer.” He smiles.

“Is that code for something?”

“Yes.” He nods, seeing as the two have become thick as thieves in a matter of weeks. Carmilla and I have been seeing each other, officially, for less than a month, and she and Jack got along right away. Every time she was over, the two were plotting something and laughing, it was very comforting to see her so caring with Jack. “Make sure you tell her.”

“I will. Don’t worry.” I say, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “Be good.”

“I will.”

“Tell Reagan to call me later, please.” I tell Danny as I hand her Reagan’s backpack. 

“Will do.” Danny smiles. “See you tomorrow.”

 

-Carmilla POV-

“Where are you going?” Ell asks as I walk towards the door.

“Shopping, there’s no food in this house.”

“Can you get that ice cream I like?”

“I guess.” I shrug. “I’ll be back soon.”

“Are you going out later?”

“No, I have to work, I may go by Laura’s but I don’t really know yet.”

“How’s Jack?”

“He’s good. He’s with his other mom tonight though. I won’t get to see him.”

“That sucks. He’s so cute, I even miss him.”

“Laura said his birthday is coming up soon, I think July 30th. I’ll check and let you know, he’ll probably want to see you.”

“Probably.” Ell shrugs. “I’m going out with Duncan later, so I won’t be home.”

“Okay.” I say, leaving the apartment. As I walk up the aisles of the supermarket, I make my way towards the ice cream, making sure I don’t forget Ell’s only request when I see a familiar flash of honey colored hair. I smile, walking over to see Laura putting something in her cart. “Hey.” I chime, bumping my cart into hers.

“Hi.” She smiles, walking over to kiss me. “How are you?”

“I’m good, doing some shopping. You?”

“Same, the kids are with Danny so the food will at least last a couple of days longer than usual.”

“That’s good.”

“Are you coming over later?”

“I’ll see how I feel after work.” I say, watching Laura’s face fall a bit. “Do you want to come to my place?”

“Really?”

“Yeah, Ell won’t be home, so it’ll just be me. I get off from work at like eight.”

“Okay.” She smiles. “If you really don’t mind…”

“I want to see you, I do. It’s just sometimes after work I don’t feel like going back out. I want to be honest with you.”

“I understand. Trust me.”

“So if you don’t mind coming by, you’re more than welcome to.”

“I look forward to it.” She smiles. “Oh, Jack told me to tell you the juice is in the bottom drawer?” Laura asks, slightly confused as I started to laugh. “What the hell does that mean?”

“He told me it meant you were going to be alone for the night or something, like he would be with you ex-wife. The kid is hysterical.”

“So I’m the juice?”

“No, he is. And the bottom drawer is your ex-wife’s apartment.”

“Why did he pick the bottom drawer?”

“I don’t know.” I shrug.

“Okay then. I will never understand the mind of an eight-year-old boy.” She shakes her head. “I’ll let you go, and I’ll see you tonight.”

“I’ll see you tonight.” I smile, kissing her quickly. 

* * *

I was sitting on the couch reading when there was a knock at the door. I walk over to see Laura standing there with a small smile on her face. “Hi.” She says, leaning in to kiss me.

“Hello.” I say, stepping aside for her to walk in. “Do you want anything?”

“No thank you. How was work?” 

“It was work.” I shrug, walking over and sitting on the couch again. Laura sits beside me, curling up into my side and resting her head on my shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“I don’t like when the kids aren’t home.” She whines, burying her face in the crook of my neck.

“It must be quiet.”

“Too quiet.”

“Why don’t you get a dog?”

“I don’t want a dog.”

“What about a cat?”

“I don’t want a cat. No pets.” She sighs, resting her chin on my shoulder. I stare at her for a moment before leaning in and kissing her softly. “Seeing you makes me feel better though.”

“Happy to help, Cupcake.”

“My dad used to call my mom, Cupcake.” Laura says with a smile.

“Oh really?”

“Yeah, especially when my mom was sick, it always made her smile.”

“What happened to your mom?”

“She passed away just after Jack was born.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” 

“It was a lifetime ago.”

“It doesn’t mean it hurts any less.” I say, brushing her hair back.

“I guess you’re right. I’ll have to show you pictures of her one-day. I know for a fact she would have loved you. She wasn’t the biggest fan of Danny, neither was my dad.”

“I’d like to meet your dad again, and actually talk to him this time.”

“Maybe one day this week we’ll have dinner together.”

“I like the sound of that.” I smile, leaning in to kiss her again, only for things to begin to get heated as she pushes my shoulders so I was lying beneath her. I place my hands under her shirt, running my hands along her sides, my fingers grazing the bottom side of her bra where I feel a difference in her skin. “Is that what I think it is?” I tease.

“Only one way to find out.” She smiles, sitting up a bit so I could take her shirt off.

“You would have a cheesy tattoo about your kids.” I tease. “Shit, I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s okay.” She laughs. “I wanted one for a long time, but I always promised I would make it meaningful, so that’s why I have my kids’ names.” 

“Is that when they first learned to write?”

“Yeah, that’s why Reagan’s ‘R’ is backwards, some with Jackson’s ‘S’.”

“It’s cute, and the flowers are nice.”

“Lily’s are my favorite.” Laura says quietly, running her fingers through my hair, looking down at me. She leans down and kisses me gently.

“Are you two really making out on the couch?” Ell announces, walking into the apartment.

“I thought you were going to be out?” I ask, handing Laura back her shirt.

“Duncan is a jerk.”

“This week he’s a jerk, next week I’ll be walking into the house hearing you two fucking from your bedroom.” I roll my eyes, sitting up a bit. I place my hand on Laura back, keeping her on my lap.

“Yeah, well. I still love him.” Ell says, plopping down on the other couch.

“I have no response to that.” I say, looking over at Laura with a smirk. 

“So what are you two up to?”

“Is that really a question?”

“Yeah.”

“We’re having a grown up moment.” Laura teases.

“Can you take your grown up moment to your room? I want to watch Drag Race.”

“What the fuck, you have to wait for me to watch it!”

“Well do you want to watch it, or make out with your girlfriend?”

“Do you wanna watch Drag Race?” I ask, looking at Laura to see her smile.

“I don’t know what that is.” She says quietly.

“Really?”

“Yeah, I mean. I don’t watch a lot of TV, and whenever I do watch it, it’s just reruns if Scandal.”

“Oh my God! I love Scandal!” Ell exclaims. 

“Really?” Laura asks with a grin.

“Yeah, holy shit it’s such a good show. Want to watch that instead?”

“Sure.” Laura chimes, getting off of my lap. Ell goes off to change quickly while I make a bowl of popcorn, getting some drinks and putting everything on the coffee table as Ell sets up Netflix. I sit down beside Laura, pulling a blanket over us as she makes herself comfortable against my side. I’m jolted awake by the sound of a phone ringing. I look around to see the TV was off, Ell was nowhere to be found, and Laura was also jolted awake, looking into her bag for her phone that wouldn’t stop it’s annoying whistling sound. “Hello?” She asks, blinking a few times to wake herself up. “Jack, is everything okay? Sweetie, I know you want to come home but you have to stay with Mama.” She says, sitting back a bit. “I’ll be there as soon as I can in the morning, I promise. Here, hold on.” Laura says, looking over at me. “Can you talk to him?”

“Sure.” I say, taking the phone from her. “Hey kid.”

_“Carm? Mom said she wasn’t going to see you today.”_

“She came over to watch Scandal.”

_“That’s her favorite.”_

“I know. What’s wrong? Why are you calling your mom so late?”

 _“I don’t want to be with Mama, I want to come home.”_ He whispers.

“You’ll be home before you know it.”

_“Are you going to be there when Mom comes and gets me?”_

“I’ll probably be over soon after that.”

_“You promise?”_

“I promise.” I say, looking over to see Laura smile.

_“Okay, can you give Mom the phone?”_

“Of course, goodnight Kid.” 

 _“Goodnight Carm.”_ Jack says as I hand Laura her phone.

“Okay Sweetie, I’ll see you tomorrow. We’ll see; I’ll talk to her about it soon. Goodnight, I love you. Okay, bye.” She says, handing up the phone. “He really likes you.”

“I know.” I smile. Looking over to see it was well past two in the morning. “Why is he up so late?”

“He has trouble sleeping when he’s with Danny, that’s why I make sure he goes to sleep early when he comes home, or I make sure he takes a nap.” Laura explains through a yawn. “I should get going.”

“N-no. You don’t have to go. I mean; it’s already so late as it is, and there is no reason to really go.”

“I don’t have anything to sleep in.” She says, looking down at her jeans and formfitting shirt.

“I’ll lend you something.”

“What happened to it being too soon?”

“That was like last week, it’s been almost a month.”

“Tuesday will be a month.” She smiles, leaning over and kissing me.

“I know.” I smile, kissing her again. “So you’re going to stay?”

“Only if your bed is better than this couch.”

“Of course it is.” I chime, getting up and leading the way towards my room. “Do you want a t-shirt and pants or just a big shirt?”

“Doesn’t matter.” She shrugs, sitting on the edge of the bed. I walk over to the dresser, pulling out a pair of boxer shorts and a t-shirt for her to change into. “There is a bathroom just outside my door, right across the hall.”

“Okay.” She says, taking the clothes and going to change, she comes back soon after with her clothes in hand. “Where can I?”

“On that chair.” I say, pointing out the chair beside the door. I look at her, swallowing hard at the site of her in my clothes.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just never shared clothes with someone before… I know it sounds stupid.”

“It isn’t stupid.” She smiles, walking over to kiss my cheek. “Do you have a side?”

“Not really, I mean I kinda like the left I guess, seeing as all of my stuff is on the table over there.”

“Well lucky for you, I like the side closest to the window, which in this case is the right.”

“What is it in your bed?”

“The left.” She smiles, walking over and climbing into my bed. I follow her lead, making myself comfortable as we lay facing each other. “What is it?” Laura asks with a hushed tone, she looks as if she is going to fall asleep any second.

“If you could change anything in the world, what would it be?”

“I feel like we’ve had this discussion before.”

“Maybe we have.” I shrug as I begin tracing the contours of her face.

“I wouldn’t change any due to the fact that if I changed things, I wouldn’t have been able to grow from them and learn. If I had the power to change things that I wish I could change, I feel I may regret it due to the fact that I was able to learn something from it, whether is be the divorce, or my mom dying, even having kids. I wouldn’t change anything.”

“Is it too soon to admit that I’m falling in love with you?” I whisper, watching as she smiles shyly. 

“I mean, this has been a thing long enough, aside from only being official for a month.” Laura shrugs, leaning in to kiss me. “It may be crazy to say this, but I feel the same way.” She says, wrapping her arms around me.

 

-Laura POV-

I wake up to the scent of eucalyptus and mint; I open my eyes to see Carmilla sound asleep, her hair slightly messy around her face. I smile, reaching out to brush away a bit of her hair. I see her eyes begin to flutter open; she looks at me after she adjusts to the light and smiles. “Good morning.” She says, her voice thick with sleep.

“Good morning.” I say quietly.

“Is it too much to say you sound sexy in the morning?”

“I should be asking you the same thing.”

“Well, it isn’t the first time I’ve heard that.”

“Oh really?”

“I mean; I’ve only heard it one other time.” She smiles as I move to straddle her hips. “This on the other hand, isn’t reoccurring in my bed.”

“A hot lady on top of you?”

“Yeah, well in the morning. I usually get told my voice is sexy when I’m telling someone to leave.” She says, wrapping her arms around me. “What time is it?”

“After nine.”

“Do you want coffee?”

“Sure.”

“Do you want to go to breakfast?” Carmilla asks as he stomach begins to growl.

“You want breakfast, don’t you?” I tease, leaning down to kiss her.

“Please.” She nods, sitting up a bit. “I have a spare toothbrush and I’m pretty sure you aren’t that much of a size difference than me. If anything I’ll borrow something from Ell, she probably left for work by now.”

“Okay.” I chime, kissing her before getting off of her lap. “Seeing as your wardrobe consists of skinny jeans and band t-shirts, and well black, maybe I’ll go raid her closet.”

“Okay.” Carmilla says; getting out of bed and walking out of the room, I follow her into Ell’s room, where she opens the door to her closet; the contents are the exact opposite of Carmilla. “This seems like more your taste.”

“It is. And I like this dress.” I say, taking a royal blue sundress off of the hanger.

“Okay.”

“I’ll give it back to you later.” I smile, kissing her cheek before going to the bathroom to change. Soon there was a knock on the door.

“Can I come in, I wanna get done?” Carmilla asks, I open the door to see her dressed she walks over and goes into the cabinet under the sink, pulling out a new toothbrush.

“Thank you.”

“Are you going to get Jack and Reagan after breakfast?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you want me to drive with you or follow you to the diner?” 

“You can come with me to get them from Danny’s.”

“I don’t know. I don’t want to overstep.”

"You’re not overstepping, Danny knows you and I are together, and I guarantee Jack talks about you nonstop.”

“I guess you’re right, but still.”

“Only one way to find out if she’ll care.”

“Let me eat first before making a decision that involves seeing your ex-wife.” Carmilla chimes, kissing my cheek. “Don’t you have to see Mattie this week?”

“Friday we have to sit down and settle everything, and then it will all be official.”

“Wonderful. But the kids still have to see Danny?”

“Of course.” I sigh, finishing up in the bathroom. I turn to Carmilla as she leans against the bathroom sink. “What?” I say, giggling as she pulls me towards her, placing her hands on my bottom and squeezing a bit. “Carmilla.”

“What?” She smiles, leaning in to kiss me. “Can we go now?”

“Of course.” I say, kissing her again. 

* * *

I walk up to the door and sigh, knocking twice. “Hey.” Danny says when she opens the door.

“Hi, are they ready?”

“Yeah.” She says, stepping aside in order for me to walk into her apartment. “Come on guys!”

“Hi Mom!” Jack shouts, running into my and wrapping me in a hug.

“Hi Sweetie.” I say, kissing the top of his head.

“Hi Mom.” Reagan smiles, giving me a hug too.

“Okay, say goodbye to, Mama.”

“Bye Mama.” Jack and Reagan say in unison as they hug Danny.

“Go wait by the car for a minute, I want to talk to Mom quick.” Danny chimes. The kids look at me for approval.

“Go, it’s open. Jack, don’t drive away.”

“I won’t.” He laughs.

“What’s up?”

“What are you doing for Jack’s birthday?”

“I don’t know yet, he may want to have some kind of party.”

“Oh, okay.”

“If we decide on something, I’ll let you know.”

“Thanks. I’ll see you Friday.”

“I’ll see you Friday.” I say, walking towards the car. “Come on guys, seatbelts on!”

“Is Carm coming over?” Reagan asks as I get into the car.

“I think so.” 

“Good, then Jack can shut up about her.”

“Don’t talk that way.”

“It’s true though, he doesn’t shut up about her.” Reagan huffs.

“I miss her, she’s nicer than Mama and is nicer to Mom.” Jack says from the backseat.

“Okay, both of you stop.”

“Can she come to my birthday?”

“You can ask her when you see her next.”

“Okay. I know she’s going to come, she likes to spend time with you, Mom.”

“Well I like to spend time with her too.” I smile.

“She does make you happy.” Reagan says quietly.

“She does.”

“And that’s all that matters.”

“Exactly.” I smile, reaching over and giving her knee a small squeeze.


	9. Chapter 9

-Carmilla POV-

I pull into the driveway of Laura’s house, getting out of the car only to be bombarded by a small body wrapping my in a hug. “Hi Carm!” Jack says, looking up at me.

“Happy Birthday, Bud.” I say, picking him up and wrapping him in a hug.

“Thank you. Did you get me something?”

“I brought someone with me.”

“Who?” He asks, cocking his head to the side.

“Happy Birthday!”

“Hi Ell!” He smiles, wiggling out of my arms.

“Hey, Cutie Pie.” She smiles, giving him a hug.

“This is a cool surprise, but it doesn’t count as a present.” He chimes walking back over to me.

“I know your mom taught you better than that.” I say as I start walking over to get the things I needed from the trunk, including a box wrapped in Batman wrapping paper.

“I knew you got me something.” He exclaims.

“Hold on there Kiddo, you better wait until your mom says you can open it.” I say as he takes the box from me.

“Okay. Come on.” Jack leads the way towards the backyard where Laura evidently went a little overboard with the balloons and streamers.

“Oh good, you’re here.” Laura says, rushing over towards me and giving me a kiss. “Did you bring the cups and napkins? I can’t believe I forgot them.”

“Cups and napkins.” I smile, holding up a bag from the party store Laura requested I went to.

“Thank you so much.” She says, kissing me again. “My dad is on his way here, and Danny is coming by some time today.”

“She confirmed she’s actually coming?”

“Yeah, Jack asked if she was actually coming, I mean, I guess no matter how much he isn’t that thrilled about being with her when he has to be, he still cares enough to know if she’ll be around for his birthday.”

“Does she know I’m here?”

“I would assume so.”

“I don’t want anything to happen…”

“Hey, everything is final, she can’t make a fuss about anything other than the fact that it’s Jack’s ninth birthday.”

“Okay.” I nod.

“Don’t worry. Everything will be okay. Are you staying tonight?”

“I have to bring Ell home.”

“Okay, that’s fine.” She says, kissing me quickly.

“Hello girls.”

“Hi Dad!” Laura says, giving Sherman a hug. 

“Hi Sherman.” I smile, giving him a hug.

“How is everything? Where’s the birthday boy?”

“Currently shaking boxes to find out his gifts.” Laura chimes, pointing to the table by the back door.

“He has no patience.” Sherman says, shaking his head.

“Just like his mom.” I tease, causing Laura to hit my arm playfully. I laugh as I lean in to kiss her.

“You two are so gross.” Ell says, walking past us.

“It’s nice to see you too, Ell.”

“Thank you for having me, even though you and Carmilla are gross.”

“Shut up, or you’ll be walking home.” I say, pushing her into the pool.

“You’re lucky my phone wasn’t on me and I was changed.”

“I’m not that much of a jerk to do it otherwise.”

“Hi Ell!” Jack says as he swims over to her. 

“He’s going to be quite the lady killer when he’s older.” I say, following Laura into the house.

“I know, I’m nervous about it.” 

“Don’t be, he’ll be okay. With a mom like you, he’ll be a nice guy.” I smile, kissing her cheek.

“What are you doing tomorrow?”

“What do you mean?”

“Exactly what the question is stating…”

“I don’t know.” I shrug.

“Want to go out?” 

“What are you a teenager?” I chuckle, wrapping my arms around Laura. “What did you have in mind?”

“You and me, enjoying each other’s company…” She says, wrapping her arms around me. “I just want to have you to myself.”

“You have me to yourself often.”

“Not often enough.” She whispers.

“Well aren’t you selfish, Ms. Hollis.”

“Very selfish, among other things.” She chimes, kissing me hard.

“Oh. I see where you’re getting at.” I say breathlessly as she rests her forehead on mine.

“Yeah, those _other things_ are becoming an issue.”

“We’ve been together for a month and before that you were my professor… those things couldn’t be taken care of properly.”

“Now they can be…”

“I know. And they will be.”

“But.” She groans, rolling her eyes.

“I want it to be special. I don’t want it to be planned or scheduled. I mean yeah it’s better to do it when your kids aren’t around, but at the same time, I want it to be spontaneous.”

“Spontaneous doesn’t exist when you’re my age and have two kids. Everything is scheduled.” Laura sighs resting her forehead on my shoulder. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you actually ended up leaving me for someone your own age.”

“Hey.” I say, pushing her shoulders for her to look at me. “I care for you more than I’ve cared for anyone ever. I don’t see myself doing that to you.” I take her face in my hands and kiss her gently. “I love you.” I whisper, kissing her again. “Don’t second guess that or feel like I’m going to go off and leave you because you’re older than me.”

“That’s never not going to be in the back of my mind though.”

“I don’t want to talk about this now, it’s Jack’s birthday.” I whisper. “I do love you though, you need to know that.”

“I know you do.” She says, kissing me quickly before disappearing out the back door.

* * *

Once it started to get late, everyone was gathered around the table on the patio watching as Laura walks over with Jack’s birthday cake glowing with candles. Jack’s face lit up as everyone began singing to him, once Laura put the cake in front of him, and the singing came to an end, Jack took a deep breath, blowing out the candles in one go. Everyone clapped, and smiled as Jack took pictures with Laura and Danny. I watch as Jack turns to Laura, whispering something in her ear, she looks up and me, waving me over. “What’s up?”

“I want a picture with you.” He smiles.

“Okay.” I smile back, taking Danny’s spot as she steps away. I look at Sherman and smile as he takes the picture.

“Alright, I’m going to take this inside and cut it.” Laura announces, taking the cake and walking into the house with it.

“Is everything okay with you two?” Ell whispers in my ear when I walk away from Jack.

“Yeah, we just had a discussion in the kitchen before and it strained things a bit.”

“Really?”

“I think so. I mean that may be putting it to an extreme, but at the same time she’s gotten distant in the past couple of hours. But it is Jack’s birthday and I’m not going to overthink things.”

“Don’t overthink it, but go in there and see if she needs help.”

“Okay.” I nod, going into the house to see Laura standing in front of the cake, her shoulders shaking a bit. “Hey.” I say gently, walking up behind her and wrapping my arms around her.

“You don’t have to do that.” She says, wiping her eyes with a dishtowel.

“Do what? Check on you?”

“Yeah, you don’t have to.”

“Yes I do.”

“Why?”

“No one else is in here doing it.” I say as she turns in my arms and buries her face in my chest. I hold her as I feel her crying against me.

“Is everything okay in here?” Sherman asks, poking his head through the door.

“Can you take over while I calm her down?”

“No problem.” He says, walking over towards us while I lead Laura up to her bedroom, making sure to close the door behind me.

“I just want to be left alone now that I have an out.” Laura says, going to lie on her bed.

“I’m not leaving you alone.”

“Please.”

“No, I’m not leaving you like this. You’re letting your mind take control and play some kind of tricks on you. I’m never going to do whatever you think I’ll do.” I say, lying down on her bed, facing her. “Look at me.”

“Please, it’s bad enough I feel this way on Jack’s birthday.”

“Do you have anxiety attacks often? I know you told me you get them, but still.”

“Why are you going to leave me for that reason if age isn’t the issue?” She snaps.

“Shit, Laura. I don’t want to leave you. I don’t plan on leaving you and I don’t want you to drive me away.” I say, pulling her closer to me. “I love you and want to be with you. I don’t want things to get in the way and if there is a problem, I want you to talk to me. I want you to know you can talk to me.”

“I don’t know if you understand though, you’re a child.”

“Now I’m a child?”

“Come on, Carmilla. I don’t know what to do.” She cries.

“My only question is why are you worrying about this today? It’s Jack’s birthday, your little boy is nine! We should be down there watching him shove cake in his face, not moping.”

“I know.” She sobs, hiding her face in her hands.

“Whatever is going on inside you, I want you to know that I want to help, I’ll remind you as much as possible.” I say, kissing her forehead. 

* * *

“Carm.” I hear Laura say as she shakes me a bit.

“Huh?” I mumble, opening my eyes to see her looking at me with a sad smile.

“I’m sorry for earlier.”

“Do you feel better?”

“We fell asleep, I do feel a little better.” Laura nods. “But we missed a good portion of Jack’s birthday. He probably opened his presents”

“We should go downstairs.” I say, sitting up.

“Yeah, we should.” Laura says, following my lead, she leans over and kisses my cheek. “I’m sorry.” She whispers, reaching over to caress my cheek. “I love you, too. Just so you know.”

“I know.” I say, kissing the side of her head when there was a light knock at the door.

“Are you okay, Mommy?” Jack asks, poking his head into the room.

“I’m okay, sweetie.” Laura smiles, opening her arms to him. He smiles, running across the room and jumping into her arms. “Did Carm make you better?”

“She made me feel a lot better.” Laura smiles, kissing the side of his head. “I’m sorry I missed the end of your birthday party.”

“It’s okay, as long as you feel better.” He chimes, kissing Laura’s cheek. “I came to ask if I could go by Grandpa’s.”

“Is Grandpa okay with it?”

“Yeah, he said to come here and ask you first.”

“You can go by Grandpa.” Laura nods. “And Happy Birthday my love.”

“Thank you Mommy. And thank you Carm for making Mom feel better and for my present.” He says, crawling over to hug me.

“You’re welcome.” I smile, kissing his cheek. 

“We’ll be down in a second, if you want to wait for me to pack your overnight bag.”

“Okay, Mom.” He says, climbing off the bed and running out of the room. Laura looks at me, running her fingers through her hair. 

“I should go pack his bag.”

“So it’ll just be you and Reagan?”

“Most likely. Do you want to stay tonight?”

“I have to take Ell home, maybe I’ll come back.”

“Please.” She whispers. Resting her head against mine.

“I promise.” I say, kissing her forehead.

 

-Laura POV-

“Hey Mom?” Reagan asks as I walk around the backyard, throwing garbage in a bag.

“What’s up?”

“Can I go over Hanna’s? She said her mom would come and get me.”

“Sure, Rae.” I say, waving her off a bit.

“Thanks Mom.” She says, walking back into the house.

“Do you want help?” I hear Carmilla ask as she walks through the gate.

“No, I’m pretty much done. Thank you though.”

“Sure.”

“Reagan is leaving now too.”

“So it’s just us?”

“Just us.” I smile, kissing her as she walks up to me. “I actually have something I want to talk to you about, it kind of has to do with why I was in a mood earlier.” I say, wrapping my arms around her.

“Okay.” Carmilla nods.

“Now, I want you to know that this was something I thought about prior to us being serious and prior to my divorce with Danny.”

“Are you pregnant or something?” Carmilla deadpans. “I’m going to let you know right now that I don’t care if you are. I want to stay with you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really. No offence but I noticed you getting a little tummy and I knew it wasn’t from all the sweets you eat.” She chimes, patting my stomach.

“You’re something else.”

“And by that you mean?”

“You’re just different, I didn’t think you would be this sweet and carrying.” I say, leaning in to kiss her. “Are you sure you’re okay with this bit of news?”

“Yes, I don’t want you to think I’m going to run off based on the fact that you’re having a baby.”

“Like I said, it was something I wanted to do, and I was doing it with or without Danny, you just came along the way.” I say, placing my hands on my stomach. “I’m happy I chose to do it.”

“That’s all that matters.” Carmilla says, placing her hands on top of mine. “If it’s okay with you, I’ll stick with you through this.”

“I don’t mind, I just want you to be straight with me if something starts to bother you or you want to bail out.”

“Okay.” She nods. “But let’s face it, you and I both felt something from the minute you looked at me the first day of class four and a half months ago. We aren’t like regular couples, there something between us that isn’t like everyone else.”

“That’s true. I would just rather be honest instead of dancing around subjects that could be hazardous.”

“I know.” She nods, resting her forehead against mine. “Is it odd that I’m excited you’re having a baby? I’ve never been around a baby before.”

“Really?”

“Well, my cousins, but I saw them every so often, the grew up faster than I had time to spend with them as babies.”

“Do you want to be a mom in your life?”

“I don’t know if I’m really cut out to be a mom, but I would like to think I’d be a halfway decent one.”

“I see how you are with Jack and Reagan, and to me, you’re more than halfway decent. You’d be a wonderful parent if you ever chose to be.” I smile, kissing her softly.

“Thank you.”

“Mom! I’m leaving!” Reagan calls out from the back door.

“I love you! Be nice and call me when you wake up!”

“I will! Bye, Carm.”

“Bye, Rae!” Carmilla waves. “So, what are we going to do?”

“I don’t know.”

“Did you lose your sex drive from this morning?”

“In fact I did.” I chuckle. “I don’t know, I just want to lay around and do nothing for the rest of the day, it was long.”

“That’s true, it was a long day.”

“Yeah, I just want to change and put my feet up.”

“Okay.” Carmilla nods, taking my hand and leading me back towards the house; she takes the garbage bag from my hand and puts it in the can on the porch. Once we both change into something comfortable, we end up on the couch with a bowl of popcorn and a blanket as we start watching TV. “Do you know what it is yet?” Carmilla asks, looking at the TV.

“What?”

“The baby, do you know what it is yet?”

“No, not yet, not for a couple of weeks.”

“Was it easier raising Reagan or Jackson?”

“They were both pretty much the same, the other differences are potty training and adolescence.” I shrug. “I think I would want a little girl though, I want to dress her up in pink and purple. I liked when Reagan was a baby, it was fun to dress her up and put bows in her hair.” I smile at the memory. “I know nowadays it’s more mainstream to let your kid be a person and not to generalize them or stereotype them, whatever it may be, but I think so long as the child isn’t objecting to it, it shouldn’t be made a big deal. There were days where Reagan wanted to wear a shirt with a truck on it and I didn’t object, there were days Jack wanted to run around in a tutu and I didn’t object. Every little girl deserves a pretty dress and every little boy deserves to run in the mud, kids don’t know any better other than just being a kid and so long as they are happy in their skin, they shouldn’t have the views of the parents forced upon them.”

“So you were the cool parent?” She teases.

“A bit, I still think I’m a cool mom.” I smile.

“You’re a hot mom.” Carmilla smiles leaning over to kiss me.

“Thank you.” I smile into the kiss.

“So, what do you think you’d name your daughter?”

“Well, Reagan is already named after my grandmother and mother. My mother’s name was Julia and my grandmother was Reagan, so Reagan Julia Hollis. Which made my mother very happy. And Jackson is Jackson Sherman Hollis for my father and I just like the name Jackson. I think I’m going to wait until I know exactly if I’m having a boy or girl and see them first hand.”

“I think I’d like to see you with a little girl. I mean, seeing you with a baby is going to be something, but seeing you with a little girl will be cute.” She smiles, taking my hand in hers. “Would you still teach?”

“I’d teach from home. Do online courses like I did with Jack and Rae. I did that for about four years, when they were old enough for preschool I went back to the classroom, your mother was always very nice to me when I was taking the time to be with my kids.”

“She has that tendency to be a decent person when she should be.”

“Your mother is the nicest person I think I know.”

“Really? I mean yeah she is nice, but she has her moments of being a little much.” Carmilla shrugs.

“I guess your mother at work and your mother in private are a little different.”

“Yeah, she has the tendency to be different people.”

“Either way, keep my pregnancy to yourself.”

“I will; there isn’t any reason to doubt that.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”


	10. Chapter 10

-Laura POV-

I wake up and run to the bathroom, expectantly getting sick with only seconds to spare, soon I feel Carmilla walk up behind me, rubbing my back and holding my hair. “You okay?” She whispers in my ear.

“Morning sickness.” I shrug, flushing the toilet as I stand up and walk over to the sink, splashing cold water on my face before brushing my teeth. “Good morning.” I smile, looking at her in the mirror as she wraps her arms around me from behind.

“Good morning.” She smiles, as she begins kissing my neck. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, believe me it isn’t going to be the last time I run to throw up at nine in the morning.” I say, rinsing my mouth and turning to face Carmilla.

“So this is going to be reoccurring? That may be a deal breaker.”

“Oh really now? Just wait; morning sickness is less of a problem than me complaining about swollen ankles, backaches, and my feet hurting. The list is endless.”

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to deal with all of that, you’re needy enough as it is.” She teases, pulling me closer to her.

“I love you.” I say, leaning in to kiss her.

“I love you, too. All of this isn’t anything to think about.” She says, brushing my hair back. “When’s your next appointment?”

“Tomorrow, I get to find out what this growth is.” I chime, patting my swollen belly. “The kids are eager to know what I’m having, so I can’t wait to tell them.”

“Are you having one of those parties?”

“I don’t think so, I’ll make an announcement, but not have a party about it. My dad celebrating the gender is going to be a party in itself.” I explain, causing Carmilla to laugh a bit. “Do you want to come with me? If you aren’t busy.”

“I don’t want to overstep or anything.”

“You’re not, I’m asking you to come.”

“I’ll think about it.” She smiles, kissing me quickly. 

“Okay, but think quick because I know my friend Perry would like to come, she came with me all the other times when Danny wouldn’t.”

“She’s the curly ginger, right? The one that made Jack’s birthday cake?”

“Yes.”

“She seems a little intense.”

“It’s just her personality when she’s nervous.”

“Oh, okay.”

“She likes you.” I smile. “She’s happy I have you.”

“Good.” Carmilla nods.

“What?” I ask as she gives me an odd look.

“When does it start moving?” She asks innocently, placing her hand on my belly. “How far along do you have to be?”

“That isn’t for a couple of more months. As soon as I start feeling them move, I’ll let you know.” I smile, kissing her cheek as I make my way out of the bathroom and downstairs into the kitchen. “Do you want anything other than coffee?”

“No, thank you.” She says, I walk over and make her a cup of coffee. Something about us has become domestic beyond compare over the past few weeks, since I told Carmilla I was pregnant she became a person that I didn’t think she would become, she took on a role that was unexpected. Carmilla has insisted on staying by my side as much as possible. “I’m gonna go read.”

“No problem, the gremlins will be up soon. I’ll make them something to eat and then I think Reagan and Jack wanted to go school shopping.”

“Let me know. I mean, I’ll stay with you guys today, I have no reason not to.”

“Okay.” I smile, kissing her quickly.

“I love you.” She whispers against my lips.

“I love you, too.” I smile, kissing her again.

 

-Carmilla POV-

“Hi.” I hear Jack chime as he walks up behind me. “What are you reading?”

“A grown up book.” I say, showing him the cover.

“Mom was reading that book yesterday, she says she reads it when she’s having a baby. She read it when she was pregnant with me, and Reagan. Why are you reading it? You aren’t pregnant.”

“I still want to read it to get a better understanding about when your mom is going through.”

“Oh, I’m just happy she’s having a baby. I hope it’s a boy, but it’s okay if it’s a girl.”

“Either way you will love your younger sibling no matter what.” I smile.

“Are you going to be their Mama?” He asks innocently, cocking his head to the side when he sits on the couch beside me.

“I don’t think I can be their Mama.”

“Why? You’re here all the time, the baby will know you and see you all the time, why shouldn’t you be their Mama?”

“Well, I’ll have to talk to your mom about that one.”

“I think Mom wouldn’t mind. I mean; every kid has a mom and a dad, or a dad and a papa, or a mom and a mama. My little brother or sister should have a mom and a mama, and not my Mama, she isn’t nice, you should be the Mama.” He says with a nod.

“I’ll talk to your mom, Kiddo.” I smile, kissing the side of his head.

“Okay.”

“Did you see your mom yet? Did you have breakfast?”

“No. I saw you in here and I came to see you first.” He smiles. I stand up, picking Jack up and throwing him over my shoulder as I walk into the kitchen.

“Well, good morning.” Laura chimes, patting Jack’s back.

“Can you put me down please?” Jack asks through a laugh. I do as he asks, as he continues to laugh. “That was fun. Good morning, Mom.” He smiles, giving Laura a hug. “Good morning, Baby.” He says to her stomach. Before walking over to the fridge.

“We have to talk about something later.” I whisper in Laura’s ear.

“Okay. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah.” I smile, kissing her quickly.

“What do you want for breakfast, Sweetie?” Laura asks, turning to Jack.

“Can you make French toast?”

“I’ll make it.” I chime; walking over to was my hands.

“You cook?” Laura asks, moving out of the way.

“Breakfast.” I smile.

“How come I’m only finding this out now?”

“It hasn’t been brought up, besides, French toast is my specialty.”

“Take it away Chef Carmilla.” She smiles, holding her hands up in mock surrender as she walks around the island and sits beside Jack. “Spices are in the long cabinet next to the fridge. Bread is in the box in the corner. The best pan to use is in the oven.”

“Thanks, Cupcake.” I smile, leaning over the counter to kiss her. With Jack and Laura watching me, I begin to make breakfast, trying my best to hide my secret ingredients from their wandering eyes. Once I was done, I placed a plate in front of each of them, setting one aside for when Reagan wakes up. Jack and Laura look at each other and down at their plates. “It isn’t going to bite you.” I tease.

“Wow, Carm this is yummy!” Jack says with his mouth full.

“It’s delicious, Carmilla.”

“Thank you both. I take tips in the form of kisses and high fives.” I chime; Jack holds up his hand and we high five while Laura leans up to give me a sticky, syrup kiss.

“What smells good?” Reagan asks through a yawn as she walks into the kitchen.

“Carm made breakfast!”

“Carm made breakfast?”

“She did, and it’s amazing.” Laura chimes.

“Here you go.” I say, placing a plate in front of the seat beside Laura.

“French toast?” Reagan asks with a smile.

“Yes ma’am.” 

“Did Mom tell you it’s my favorite?”

“No, she did not. Apparently I have a lot riding on this now.”

“She’ll like it, don’t worry.” Jack chimes.

“I’m very picky when it comes to French toast. I only eat Mama’s.”

“That’s true, the only thing she would eat when Danny cooked, and it wasn’t as often as she liked.” Laura informs, watching as Reagan takes a bite.

“Holy shit.” Reagan says, holding her hand over her mouth.

“Language.” Laura warns.

“But it’s in context. This is really good, Carm. Better than Mama’s.”

“Well, I’ve accomplished something.”

“Just don’t tell Mama.” Laura suggests.

“I won’t.” Reagan shakes her head. 

 

-Laura POV-

“Come one guys! You’re with Mama today!” I call up the stairs, as I get ready for my appointment while getting the kids off to their mother.

“We know.” Reagan grunts, making her way down the stairs. “When are we going to find out what the baby is?”

“When you come home later. You’re not spending the night, you’re just with her for the day.” 

“Okay.”

“Come on Jackson!”

“Is Carm going with you?” He asks.

“Yes, I am.” Carmilla chimes, walking in from the kitchen.

“Good.” He smiles, opening the door when there was a knock.

“Hey, Little One.” Danny chimes, running her fingers through his hair. “Hey.” She smiles, walking into the house. “Your pregnant.” She says, looking down at my bump.

“Yeah.”

“Since when?”

“I don’t want to talk about this now.”

“Guy, go wait outside for a second.”

“Okay, bye Mom, bye Carm.” Reagan and Jack say in unison before walking out the door.

“So?” Danny asks once the kids leave the house.

“I tried before we got divorced.”

“So you were going to have a baby either way?”

“Basically. Not like you would have assumed anything anyway.” I say, rolling my eyes.

“So who’s taking care of it with you?” Danny snaps. “Are you?” She asks Carmilla.

“Yeah, I don’t see why not.” Carmilla shrugs.

“You’re barely an adult yourself.” Danny scoffs.

“I’ll end up being a better parent than you.”

“Whoa, okay, Carm. Stop.” I say, putting myself between the two of them. “Danny you should go, I have somewhere to be.”

“Yeah, I’ll just go and parent.” She snaps, turning on her heels and walking out of the house. Slamming the door in the process.

“I don’t even know why I try to save her from you.” I sigh, rubbing my face.

“What does that mean?” Carmilla asks with a small laugh.

“Next time she does something, I’m letting you tell her off.”

“Okay.” Carmilla shrugs. “We have to go if you don’t want to be late.”

“Okay.” I whisper, kissing her quickly before gathering my things. “Do you mind driving?” I ask as we walk towards the driveway.

“Not at all, I just want to know where we’re going.”

“I’ll tell you.” I smile as she opens the car door for me. 

* * *

“Laura Hollis?” The nurse calls out, I stand up and walk towards her, Carmilla following close behind me. “How are you?”

“I’m doing good.” I smile, following her into the examination room, after asking some questions, and doing the preliminary things before excusing herself as we wait for the doctor. I lie back on the table and sigh

“Are you excited?” She asks, taking my hand in hers.

“Yeah, I am.” I smile, kissing the back of her hand.

“Hello Laura.” Dr. Marks smiles, walking into the room. “It’s been a while.”

“It has, the last appointment I had you weren’t here.”

“I know. I can’t believe I’ll be with you for baby number three.” She smiles. “How are the other two?”

“Very well, thirteen and nine.”

“Wonderful. Your son is still a birth I remember, he was so big.”

“That he was, and now you wouldn’t think that, he’s so lanky.” I smile.

“At least he is healthy and growing.” Dr. Marks smiles. “And who is this?”

“This is Carmilla.”

“Nice to meet you.” Carmilla smiles.

“And you as well.” She smiles. “Okay, lets get this show on the road.” Dr. Marks smiles. I pull my shirt up, exposing my bump as the doctor squeezes the cold gel onto my abdomen and moving the sonogram wand around, looking at the screen to see the fizzy image of a baby. “There they are.” She chimes. “Everything seems to be how it should be, they’re at the right place in their development. The only question I know you really have is what the gender is.”

“Pretty much.”

“Well, I can tell you outright or write it down seeing as it’s the thing to do nowadays.”

“What do you want to do?” I ask, facing Carmilla.

“Write it down and we’ll open it with Jack and Reagan later.”

“I like that idea.”

“Okay.” Dr. Marks smiles, printing out a couple of pictures before handing me a paper towel. She then gets up and walks over to the small counter, jotting something down on paper before sealing it in an envelope. “Here you go and I will see you in a couple of months. If anything seems off and feels odd, call me and make an appointment. And Carmilla, if you have any questions as all, you can leave a message or shoot me an email.” She says, handing Carm her card.

“Thank you, I’ll be sure to take you up on that.” Carmilla smiles.

“Have a wonderful day ladies.” Dr. Marks chimes, walking out of the room.

“Are you hungry?”

“How did you know?”

“I’m pretty spectacular.” Carmilla smiles.

“Buy me lunch, woman.”

 

-Carmilla POV-

Laura and I were lying in her bed waiting for the return of Jack and Reagan. Laura was running her fingers through my hair and I rest my head on a pillow by her bump, absentmindedly rubbing it. “What are you thinking?”

“What they are in there.”

“We’ll find out soon enough.” She smiles, scratching at the back of my neck.

“Do you want me around to take care of them with you?”

“I wouldn’t mind that, why?”

“Jackson said they should call me Mama. Seeing that he has a mom and a mama, it’s only nice that his little brother or sister has a mama and a mom, and that I would be better to the baby than his mama is.”

“I can’t believe the things he manages to come up with.” Laura chuckles. “You have time to decide what you want to be in this kid’s life. If you want to assume that responsibility I won’t stop you.”

“Okay.” I say, sitting up to kiss her.

“Carm! Mom!” Jack shouts, running into the room and jumping on the bed.

“Do we know what you’re having?” Reagan asks, following behind Jack.

“We waited for you guys.” Laura says, reaching over to grab the envelope. “Okay. I’m going to open the envelope and take out the paper, and put it in front of us so we all see it.” She explains, tearing open the envelope. She takes out the paper and holds it to her chest. She looks at us with a smile as she places the paper in front of her.

“It says girl!” Jackson shouts. “That’s cool!”

“Congratulations, Cupcake.” I smile, leaning over to kiss her.

“Congratulations, Mom.” Reagan says, giving Laura a kiss on the cheek. “I can’t wait to meet her.”

“Do you know what you’re going to name her?” Jackson chimes.

“Not yet, we’ll start figuring out names when it’s closer to her being born, okay?”

“Okay Mom.” The kids say in unison.

“Don’t go blabbing to anyone yet, I’m gonna have Laf, and Perry, and Grandpa over this week to tell them the news.” Laura says. “That means you, Jackson.”

“I got it, I won’t tell.”

“Thank you. Did you guys eat with Mama?”

“Yeah, we ate before we got home.” Reagan says.

“Okay, Jackson you can go play your game until it’s time for bed, just wash up and change. And Reagan you can be on your phone until I come in there.”

“Okay.” The kids chime before leaving.

“Oh, can I have a couple of friend over?” Reagan asks.

“Sara and Hanna?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.” Laura nods.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Laura smiles. “So a little girl is in there.” She says, patting her stomach.

“A little girl is in there. You’re going to look a lot like your Mommy and sister.” I chime, kissing Laura’s bump.

“I think I want you to be her Mama.” Laura says quietly. “I don’t care what the situation is or anything like that, I know that I want you to be around to help me raise her.”

“I’ll think about it. You said I have time.”

“I know.”

“I love you, Laura. That doesn’t change anything.”

“I know.” She nods. “But it’s like Jack said, this baby deserves two loving parents.”

“I’ll think about it.”


	11. Chapter 11

-Carmilla POV-

“Where have you been?” Ell asks, as I walk into the apartment.

“With Laura, she’s pregnant.”

“We should talk.”

“About?”

“Letting this apartment go. Neither of us are here enough, it’s just a waste of money at this point, you’d rather be with Laura, I’m practically living with Duncan.”

“I agree. We’ll wait until the lease is up in a couple of months, gives us both time to figure things out.” I say, sitting on the couch beside her.

“So what are you going to be a mom now?”

“I don’t know. Laura and I talk about it the other day, she wants me to be the kid’s Mama, but I don’t know.”

“You’ll be a good mother.”

“Really?”

“I’ve known you long enough to know you’ll be a halfway decent parent. Her other kids seem to like you enough, you haven’t made either of them cry.”

“That’s an accomplishment, isn’t it?” I laugh.

“You should just go for it. The kid will just know you for you from the time it’s born, no need to make yourself seem like someone else to start off.” Ell shrugs.

“I’ll talk to Laura. She’s due sometime in December which leaves time to move out of here, talk to see if she wants me to move in with her to be with her and the baby, figure things out.”

“We’re growing up, aren’t we?”

“I suppose so.”

“Don’t forget about me when you have a family.”

“I won’t, you’re going to be Auntie Ell. The best Aunt the kid will ever have.” I smile, causing Ell to let out a chuckle.

“Auntie Ell? Really?”

“Yep.” 

“Do you know what Laura is having?”

“A girl.” I smile.

“A little girl that is going to have you wrapped around her finger in an instant.”

“I know. I’m going to be a sucker for her.”

“I can see in your eyes you really want her.”

“I do, I’m excited. I never thought I’d have such an unconventional relationship with someone, and now be waiting to raise a baby with them, and actually be excited about it.”

“I can say that too. I’ve been with you through a lot of shit, Kitty. You’ve been through a lot too, and I can say I’ve never seen you this excited about a stage in your life. And no matter how unconventional it is, you are still very happy about it and that’s all that matters.” Ell chimes, giving my knee a squeeze.

“Since Laura knows that gender, she’s going to have a baby shower soon, when we get everything together I’ll let you know. It’s going to be small, just some of her relatives and close friends.”

“I’d love to come, I’d love to see Jackson again.”

“He’s very excited for his little sister.”

“I could assume.”

“Yeah, he’s going to be a great older brother, very protective of her.”

“I’m proud of you, Kitty.” Ell says, wrapping her arm around my shoulder. “I’m proud of what you are growing into.”

“Thank you.” I smile, wrapping her in a hug. “I love you, Ell. 

“I love you too, Carm.” She smiles, kissing my cheek.

“I’m going to be home for a couple of days, I have to get ready for classes, and Laura wants to get the kids ready and basically said I was a distraction to Jack. He and I say Laura is bad cop and I’m good cop.” I chime, causing Ell to laugh.

“So you’ve been put on desk duty in your own apartment.”

“Basically, yes.” I laugh. “Just until after school starts.”

“And until then?”

“I’ll start going through my things, I don’t have a heavy class load this semester, and so I’ll be able to figure everything out.”

“I only have online classes this semester, I was sick of going to that place.”

“I have one online class.”

“What class?” 

“Some Math requirement I had to take.” I shrug. “I just know it’s going to feel odd not being with Laura.”

“I could imagine. Let’s make something for dinner, I’ll cook our last meal here.”

“Our last meal?”

“Yeah, we never cook as it is, once school starts it’s going to be takeout all the time.”

“True. You’re going to go shopping for it?”

“Yeah, what do you want?”

“Pasta.”

“I shall deliver.” Ell chimes, getting up and grabbing her bag. “I’ll be back.”

“Be careful.”

“Always!” 

* * *

I take a deep breath before knocking on the door to Laura’s office, I smile when she opens the door. “Whoa.” I chime, looking down at her belly. “This is what happens when I haven’t seen you for a week?”

“Yeah, I can barely see my toes any more.” 

“You aren’t that big.”

“For me I am.” She chuckles, stepping forward to kiss me. “How are you?”

“I’m good, I missed seeing you.”

“I missed seeing you too, trust me. Jack was going crazy without you around. He was over at Tucker’s house every day almost.” She chimes, gasping for a second and taking my hand, placing it on her belly where I felt something move just under my hand. I look up at her and smile.

“Is that?”

“She only moves when she hears your voice. Whenever I was on the phone with you and had you on speaker she would move a lot. Not like she wouldn’t move at all, but she moves a lot more when you’re voice is around.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, she likes you already.” Laura smiles, caressing my cheek.

“I was reading a baby book the other day.” 

“Oh yeah?” She asks, leading the way further into her office and sitting down at her desk.

“Yeah, how far along are you?”

“About twenty-five, twenty-six weeks.” 

“The baby can start blinking about now, are you having trouble sleeping?”

“Slightly, but not too bad. When I was pregnant with Jackson, I couldn’t sleep at all, nothing helped at all.” Laura sighs. “And sleeping alone doesn’t help.”

“I wanted to talk to you about that.” I say, sitting up a bit. “Ell and I aren’t going to renew the lease, we’re both never there and there’s no point in keeping the apartment.”

“You can move in whenever you feel like it.” Laura says, beating me to the punch.

“Really?”

“Yeah, between now and when your lease is up. You can move things in slowly or all at once, whatever you’re comfortable with. I told you Carm, I want you around, I want you to be with me through the journey of having this baby, I have no reason to object to you living with me.”

“Okay.” I smile.

“Carm, you know I how I feel about you, you know how my kids feel about you. I have no reason to ever say no to you, under certain circumstances.”

“I love how you had to add that little side note.” I laugh. “Like if I asked to get a dog you’d say no.”

“Exactly.” She smiles, looking over at her computer and sighing. “I have to go.”

“Okay.” I say, standing up as she stands up. “Do you want me to walk you?”

“No, I’m alright.” She says, walking around the desk to kiss me. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“I’ll see you tonight?”

“Yeah, when do you get done?”

“After this class, I get home around one.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Yeah, I only have one class this semester. It makes things easy for me.”

“Good.” I say, kissing her again. “I’ll see you in a little while.” 

“Of course.”

 

-Laura POV-

I was standing in front of the stove cooking dinner when I feel Carmilla walk up behind me, wrapping her arms around my waist and resting her hands on my belly as she kisses my neck. “Hello.” I smile, turning my head to kiss her.

“Hey. Everything okay?”

“Of course. You know that this week is the baby shower.”

“Yes ma’am. Ell and I ordered the cake and went shopping for decorations and everything.” Carmilla chimes. It’s been about three weeks since Carmilla and I decided she should make the jump to move in with the kids and I, and since then things have been going well. Even when it comes down to my pregnancy cravings and complaints, she is always there to give me what I need and I couldn’t be happier. “Does the theme have to be so pink?”

“No, but that’s all there ever is for little girls, I threw in some other colors, but the primary one is pink. But I made the cake yellow, and some of the things I the registry I requested in any color.”

“What color are you going to make her room?”

“Well, Reagan knows she’s going to relocate to down here in the office, she doesn’t mind all that much, and her room is blue. I was thinking to just freshen up the color of her room.

“What is Reagan doing to the office?”

“Nothing, she wants to change the color, obviously. But she doesn’t have a real plan. My friend Kirsch is going to come by and help move some things to her new room with his friend JP.”

“Okay.”

“Yeah, and I’m going to relocate my desk and computer to my room, well, our room.” I smile. “The books on the shelves I told Reagan to leave and she doesn’t mind, the couch in there I’m going to throw out or ask Danny if she wants it, seeing it’s hers.”

“Whatever makes you happy, Cupcake.” Carmilla smiles. 

* * *

“Hi Uncle Kirsch!” I hear Jackson shout.

“Hey, Little Dude. You’re getting so big.” Kirsch chimes, picking Jackson up and giving him a hug as I walk in from downstairs. “Hey, Little Pregnant Hottie.” He chimes wrapping me in a side hug and kissing the top of my head. 

“How are you Kirsch?”

“Doing good, traveling a lot. You know how it is. How’s the little one in there.” He says, poking my bump.

“She’s coming along.” I smile. I then feel Carmilla take my hand in hers. “Kirsch, this is my girlfriend, Carmilla. Carmilla this is an old friend of mine, Kirsch.”

“Nice to meet you.” Carmilla smiles as she shakes his hand.

“Likewise.”

“Come on Uncle Kirsch, I ant to show you my room.”

“Okay.” He says, putting Jack down and following him up the stairs. As Carmilla and I walk into the kitchen to get things in order for the baby shower.

“Can I ask you something?” Carmilla says, getting the food out of the fridge.

“I already know the question and yes, Kirsch is biologically the father of my kids. I asked him to be the donor years ago. I knew him for so long and knew the family her came from was healthy and nothing out of the ordinary to report on, so rather than going through and researching donors, I asked him and he was more than happy to do it. He said it was the joy of having kids without the responsibility, he’s more than happy being Uncle Kirsch.” I explain. “And little girl in here is apart of that.”

“Jack has his smile.” She says quietly. “And his personality.”

“Two Kirsch qualities I don’t mind seeing every day.” I admit.

“If they ever asked about their dad, I mean they will learn about it an all when they’re older, are you going to tell them?”

“Of course. I have no reason not to tell them, they understand that a family consists of a mother and father, normally. They understand how things generally work, they know they have a dad somewhere, but they also know that the parents they have, well, I’m speaking for myself here, but they know that even Danny does love them no matter what, and just because they don’t have a father present all the time, it doesn’t mean they are deprived something from life. They do have my father, and people like Kirsch as they male role model. Now they have a whole new group of men to look up to, your dad and brother, your uncles.” 

“Jack seems to like my Uncle Tom whenever we run into him.” Carmilla laughs.

“Yeah. I was worried when I found out I was having Jack, I thought he wouldn’t have enough male support and energy around him, that he was going to be stunted for being with so many woman. But then my dad talked me out of that mindset.”

“You give your children so much that they don’t even think they are deprived anything. They love you so much, they know they are loved and that’s all that matters.”

“And this little bug is going to be loved just as much, and actually have another mother that loved her almost as much as I do.” I smile, giving Carmilla a kiss. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Cupcake. And the Mini Cupcake.” She smiles, placing her hand on my bump, her smile growing as she feels the baby move.

“I can’t believe she moves this much. Reagan and Jack never moved as much as she does.”

“Can we talk about a name soon, even if we discuss it with Jack and Reagan?”

“Yeah, we’ll start talking about it.” I smile. 

“Hello, hello.” My dad announces, walking into the kitchen with a few bags in his hands.

“Hi Daddy.”

“Hello, Sweetheart, how are you?”

“I’m good.” I say, wrapping him in a hug.

“Carmilla.” He chimes, walking over to give her a hug. “How are you?”

“Hey, Sherman. I’m doing well. You?”

“Hanging in there. I have some news of my own.” He smiles as he begins emptying the bags. “I met someone.”

“You did?” I ask, trying to hide the shock.

“Yeah, your Uncle Mark made me join one of those dating sites.” He explains, rolling his eyes. “Anyway, after some careful consideration and several women, I think I landed someone that is perfect for me.”

“Congratulations, Dad. I can’t wait to meet her.” I smile, giving him a hug.

“I can’t wait to bring her around. Her name is Holly.”

“Holly Hollis.” I say with a laugh.

“That does sound funny.” He says. “Not that marriage is anyway near a discussion if at all, but that is funny.”

“Whenever you want to bring her around, we’re more than happy to meet her.”

“I know.” He smiles. “Where’s Jack?”

“Upstairs, Kirsch came by today and Jack took him away as soon as he come in the house.” 

“I wouldn’t expect anything less. Is everything okay? Do you need help?”

“No we’re alright. We’re just waiting for Perry to bring by the cake and everyone else to arrive, they should be coming soon.”

“Okay.”

 

-Carmilla POV-

“Do you think you got enough stuff?” I say, bringing up the last of the bags and putting them in the corner of our bedroom.

“Yeah, plenty. Kirsch is coming by next weekend to move Reagan around and repaint the room, then we’ll be able to set up the crib and all the big furniture.” Laura chimes from the bed.

“Perfect. I think your little girl is spoiled beyond.” I smile, throwing myself on the bed.

“ _Our_.”

“Our?”

“Yeah, she ours.” Laura says, running her fingers through my hair. “What should we name her?”

“I don’t know.” I shrug, lying on my back as Laura curls into my side. “I don’t even have suggestions really either.”

“I’ve always liked the name Madison.”

“Madison is a cute name.” I say, placing my hand on Laura’s bump. “Do you like it?” I say, feeling the baby move a bit. “You like that, Madison?” I feel her moving again.

“I think she likes it.” Laura smiles, leaning in to kiss me. “Madison, what should her middle name be? What’s your middle name? Mine is Ilene.”

“Mine is Elizabeth.”

“Madison Elizabeth. I like the sound of that.”

“Madison Elizabeth Hollis. It does have a ring to it.”

“It does.” Laura smiles. “I like it. Her name is Madison.”

“So much for talking it over with Reagan and Jackson.” I laugh.

“They’ll get over it, we never said we would have them pick really.”

“True. I can’t wait to meet her.”

“I can’t wait either.” Laura smiles, kissing me again.


	12. Chapter 12

-Carmilla POV-

There was something about seeing Laura through her pregnancy that was magical to me. I was never one for wanting kids, never imagined being in a situation where I would be with kids every day, or be excited to be expecting a baby. “Hey.” Laura smiles, essentially waddling into our room. 

“Hey, are you okay?” I ask as she walks over and kisses me.

“Just tired, can you rub my feet?” She pouts, giving me her best puppy dog eyes.

“What’s in it for me?” I ask, getting up from the desk and walking over to the bed.

“A girlfriend that isn’t cranky.”

“That saves everyone then, doesn’t it?”

“Yes Ma’am. I just took a shower so it isn’t that bad.”

“Clean feet.” I tease, doing what Laura asked of me. “I love you. And that’s what saves you.”

“I know.” Laura chimes. “And the fact that you want to make me so happy.”

“I’m a sucker for keeping you happy.” I smile. “Do you think if we were the same age we’d be together? Like if I was as old as you?”

“Why are you asking that?”

“I don’t know, I mean year there’s like fifteen-years or so between us, and that is basically a life time and I was wondering if we’d be in the same situation if we were the same age.”

“I think age is something that isn’t an issue unless you make it one. I don’t even think of age being a factor between us, I didn’t go after you because you were younger and I wanted adventure or something ridiculous like that, I genuinely liked you, and I felt an instant attraction too you the second I look into those dark brown eyes of yours.” Laura smiles. “There are those theories about living other lives and running into the same people over and over again, and I when I first looked at you, I felt as if I’ve known you before, in a past life you and I were something. We drifted throughout time and then we came together again, only this time it happened in a way where I was going down a different path until ours crossed on the first day of class.”

“I thin English was the wrong calling for you.”

“Why is that?”

“You’re more philosophical than some of the professors that teach it.”

“I enjoy English though, I love reading and all that stuff. I was planning to go into Journalism at one point. Danny kind of shot that idea down.”

“You wanted to be a Journalist?”

“Yeah, I was a very inquisitive child and would have been a really good Journalist. Just ask my dad.”

“I’ll have to.” I laugh.

“Thank you.” She chimes, moving her feet from me.

“Do you feel better?”

“Of course.” She smiles, leaning in to kiss me. “What were you working on?”

“Final paper. I’m almost done with it.”

“Do you want me to look over it?”

“No thank you.” I smile, walking back over to the desk

“I have to go get Jack from Tucker’s.”

“Do you want me to get him? Do you don’t have to go out, it’s getting cold.”

“Would you mind?”

“Not at all. I don’t want you going out in the cold anyway.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” 

* * *

“Oh Carmilla.” Perry chimes when she sees me standing on the porch.

“Hi, Laura sent me to get Jack.” I say, walking into the house.

“Of course. How are you?”

“I’m doing well.”

“How’s Laura? She’s due soon isn’t she?”

“Yeah, within the next couple of weeks, we’re just hoping Madison comes before Christmas, or after. Not on so we’ll see.” I shrug.

“Hi Carm.” Jack smiles, coming down the stairs.

“Hey, Kiddo. Ready?”

“I just got to get my jacket, I left it in the kitchen.”

“Hopefully she comes soon, I can’t wait to meet her.” Perry smiles. “I know she’s going to look exactly like Laura.”

“I hope so.” I chuckle.

“Are you excited to be a mom?”

“Nervous, I don’t know what to expect. I’ve been reading a lot of parenting books and things like that, I don’t know what kind of instinct I have so.”

“Based on seeing how you are with Jackson and Rae, I know you’ll be an amazing mother to Madison.”

“But Rae and Jack are grown for the most part. Madison is going to be new life I have to take care of, make sure she’s changed and bathed, that she doesn’t get diaper rash and things like that. Jack and Rae are pretty self sustaining.”

“It will be fine, you will be amazing, don’t worry.” She reassures me. “Bye Sweetie.” Perry chimes, giving Jack a hug. “I’ll see you around.”

“Bye, Auntie Perry. Bye Tucker. Thank you for having me and see you later.” Jack says before we walk out of the house.

“Is Mom okay?” Jack asks as we walk to the car.

“She’s just tired, Bud. I didn’t want her coming out on the cold to get you, especially after she just took a shower.”

“Oh, okay. Is Madison okay?”

“Of course.” I smile. “She’s going to be here sooner than we think and we don’t want Mom getting sick before Madison is here.”

“Yeah.” Jack yawns.

“You tired, Kid?”

“Yeah.”

“We’ll be home soon, just stop in by Mom and the you can go in your room.”

“Okay, Carm.” He smiles. The drive home was rather short, Jack and I walk into the house and up the stairs into mine and Laura’s room where we see Laura curled up and sleeping. “I don’t want to wake her up.”

“Go, I’ll tell her what happened when she gets up.”

“Thanks, Carm.” He smiles, giving me a hug.

“You’re welcome, Kiddo.” I say, ruffling his hair.

* * *

“What are you reading?” I hear Laura mumble as I absentmindedly play with her hair while she slept.

“ _Room_.”

“Is it good?”

“Really good, you may like it, but it will probably make you cry.”

“Why you do say that?”

“You blubbered like a baby when we watched the movie last week. And the book is in Jack’s point of view so your experiencing everything he’s experiencing, it’s quite amazing.” I explain as she sits up. “And then you’ll think of your Jack being in that situation and probably get upset and squeeze the life out of him or watching him sleep, like you did last week after we watched the movie.”

“You’ve made your point.” Laura smiles, slumping against the pillows. “It’s nearly two in the morning.”

“Yeah, I started reading and lost track of time.”

“How was Jack when you got him?”

“He was good, he came home and went straight to sleep because he was so tired.”

“Have you heard from Reagan?”

“She texted me saying everything was okay, and she just got back from a movie, she said she’ll call in the morning when she wakes up, but Hanna’s going to bring her home probably.”

“Okay.” She grunts, getting out of bed. “I want ice cream, care to join me?”

“Sure.” I smile, marking my place before tossing the book on the bed and following Laura down into the kitchen. “Where were you hiding that?” I ask as she pulls out a pint of Ben and Jerry’s Half Baked.

“I can’t tell you, or you’ll always know where my stash is. The kids never even found my secret ice cream stash.”

“I’ll let you have that, until I come across it.” I smile as she hands me a spoon and sits on the stool next to me.

“If you discover it, which you won’t, you keep it to yourself.” Laura smiles, shoveling a massive spoonful of ice cream into her mouth.

“Yes ma’am.” I smile, digging into the pint. “Do we have everything in order for the arrival of Madison?”

“Yeah, everything is good. We just may need a few more things, but for the most part the nest is ready.” She says. “I wanted to ask you something.”

“Go for it.”

“I know you’re going to be here to help raise her and all that, but I wanted to know if you wouldn’t mind being marked as her parent on the birth certificate. Now you don’t have to if you don’t want to, but it’s just a suggestion.” She shrugs.

“Sure.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, what do I care? I feel like she’s practically half mine as it is…”

“Thank you.” Laura smiles, leaning over and kissing me hard.

“Did you think I would say no?”

“Yeah, you’re young, I didn’t know if you’re want that responsibility of being a parent.”

“Like I said, I feel like she’s half mine as it is. Of course I want to be her Mom.”

“Mama, you’ll be Mama, I’ll be Mommy.” Laura smiles.

“Fine, I’ll be Mama, you’ll be Mommy.” 

“Prefect.” She smiles, taking the pint and walking out of the kitchen.

“I thought we were sharing?”

“I’m sharing enough with Madison.” She chimes, walking into the living room and turning on the TV.

“As much as I would love to stay up and watch TV with you, I am quite tired.” I say, walking up behind the couch, wrapping my arms around her.

“No problem, I’m just going to catch up on Scandal and I’ll be up to bed.” Laura smiles, turning to kiss me. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” I say, kissing the side of her head when she turns away from me. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Okay.”

 

-Laura POV-

“I thought you’d be gone by now?” Carmilla asks, walking into my office.

“It’s easier to get final grades submitted here, rather than home.” I chime as she walks over and kisses the top of my head.

“When will you be done?”

“Not much longer.”

“Okay, I’ll head home to meet with Reagan and Jackson.”

“My dad was coming by today, so he should be there already. You don’t have to run home.”

“I still have to do Christmas shopping.”

“So do I, that’s why I called my dad, I have to get Reagan a couple of more things and Jack one more thing.”

“I have to get you something.”

“Oh?”

“I’m a procrastinator.” She says quietly.

“That’s okay, we can go in different directions. Do you want to go to the mall?”

“Yeah, I don’t mind.”

“Okay, Danny gets the kids on Christmas Eve, so that gives up time to wrap everything. I like to put some of the gifts under the tree, the ones I personally get them. Then whatever they wrote on their lists for Santa, I hide until they go to bed.”

“I’m here to learn the traditions and follow through with them.”

“Okay.” I smile.

“Can we go to dinner too? We haven’t had time with just the two of us in a while. I mean, yeah we have the time when the kids go to Danny’s but it isn’t the same.”

“Yes, we can get dinner too, and I know what you mean.”

“Thank you.” She smiles. 

* * *

“This has been one of the easiest Christmas Eve’s I’ve had since Reagan was a baby.” I say, as Carmilla takes some of the gifts and moves them to the hall closet. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Carmilla smiles as she helps me up from the floor. “Do you want anything?”

“Cocoa, please.”

“No problem.” I turn on the TV as Carmilla leaves the room, flipping through the channels to fine a Christmas movies. “Here you go.” She says, handing me my Tardis mug as she sat beside me.

“Uh-oh.” I say, sitting up and placing the mug one the coffee table.

“What uh-oh?” Carmilla asks, concerned.

“We have to go.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, Madison is coming now.”

“Holy shit.”

“You’re telling me. Get that bag by the stairs.”

“Yes ma’am.” She says, coming back with the bag and my coat.

“Thank you.”

“No problem, Cupcake.” She smiles, kissing my forehead. “Anything else?”

“Everything off, set the alarm, I’ll meet you in the car.” I say, taking a deep breath. “My car, you’ll drive.” I say, slipping on my slippers

“No problem.” Carmilla says, running around and turning off lights before meeting me back at the door.

“You’re quick.” I laugh, turning on the car from my key.

“I’m nervous.” She huff, pulling on her coat and helping me to the car.

* * *

 

I watch as Carmilla paced the room, picking at her nails. “Carm, calm down.”

“We’ve been here for over an hour and nothing is happening, your water broke as soon as we walked into the Emergency Room, isn’t that something that should be concerning?”

“It’s a waiting game. It takes a bit to become dilated enough to push. When I was pregnant with Jack I was in labor for almost four hours.”

“So what you’re saying is I should get coffee?”

“If you want to.” I laugh. “Everything will be okay.”

“She’s going to be here on Christmas, I know it.” Carmilla says, looking at the clock to see it was nearly ten o’clock at night.

“I can say one thing.”

“What?” She asks, walking over and sitting in the chair beside me.

“You are a hell of a lot more nervous and excited than Danny was.” I say, reaching out and taking her hand in mine.

“Well, I actually give a shit.”

“I know. You were very hands on this whole time, and I can’t thank you enough for this.”

“You’re welcome.” She whispers, leaning over to kiss my forehead just as another contraction hit.

“Okay, I think this is the one.” Dr. Marks chimes, walking into the room, sitting at my feet and looking under the gown. “Yes, it is. We have to move you to the delivery room. Does Carmilla have permission to go back there with you?”

“Of course.” I hiss, nodding frantically.

“Okay then. Let’s go.”

 

-Carmilla POV-

Within twenty minutes of walking into the delivery room, Madison was born. The whole experience leaving me a bit woozy, but at the same time, seeing the way Laura immediately adapted to being handed Madison made me fall in love with her a bit more. I couldn’t hold back the emotions, and felt myself beginning to cry with a smile on my face. “Would you like to cut the cord?” A nurse asks me, smiling under her mask.

“Uhm.”

“Just do it, Carm.” Laura laughs. I take the scissors and do as I’m told.

“You look like any other scared shitless mother or father that come back here, everything will be okay.” The nurse whispers, patting my shoulder. “Just take good care of her until she’s eighteen and everything will be set.” She adds with a laugh.

“Thank you.” I chuckle, walking over to Laura and kissing her forehead. “You’re a rockstar.”

“Thank you.” She says, looking up to kiss me properly. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Once the baby was weight and measured and Laura was given the okay from her doctor, we were moved back to the room where Laura was then holding Madison and looking at her in awe. “I’m going to call my parents, I’ll call your dad too if you want.”

“Yeah, you can call. Just tell them not to come up here right away. I want Reagan and Jack to meet their sister first.”

“What about Danny?” I ask, watching her demeanor change.

“Danny will have to bring them up here.”

“Okay.” I shrug, walking over and getting my phone out of the bag. “Hey, Mom.” I say when she picks up the phone. 

_“Sweetheart, it’s late. Is everything okay?”_

“Fantastic. Madison have greeted the world with her presence tonight.” I chime, watching Laura roll her eyes at me with a smile.

_“Really? Oh that’s wonderful. Peter, Peter, Laura had the baby. Does this mean I’m a grandma?”_

“If you want to be.”

_“Discuss it with Laura, but I would love to be, and I know your father would love to be Grandpa.”_

“I will talk to her.”

_“Was everything okay? How much does she weigh?”_

“Everything went wonderful, Madison is seven pounds twelve ounces, twenty-one inches long. Tiny, but healthy.”

_“And that’s all the matters. Are you assuming the role of Mother?”_

“Yes, I am. I know it’s unconventional, the way we are doing things, but at the same time it feels right.”

_“As long as you aren’t overwhelmed or anything like that, everything should be okay.”_

“I know, Mother.” I say, turning to face Laura to see her talking to Madison in a soft tone, I couldn’t help but smile at the interaction. “I love them both so much.”

_“I’m proud of you, Carmilla. I know I don’t say it enough, but I am.”_

“Thank you, Mother. Okay, I’ll talk to you tomorrow and let you know when it’s a good time to come up if you want, I have to give Sherman a call and let the kids know too.”

 _“Okay, Sweetie, Merry Christmas to you, and your family. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”_ She says before hanging up.

“Can I hold her before I call your dad?” I ask, walking towards Laura.

“You can hold her, I’ll give him a call. Are you ready?” She smiles as I sit down in the chair next to the bed.

“I’m scared.” I admit, taking off my hoodie.

“You’ll be okay, just support her head, hold your arms like I am and I’ll put her right in there.” Laura smiles, turning to face me. She smiles as she hands Madison off to me, I hold my breath as she placed in my arms, her little nose scrunching up before she opens her eyes for a moment, looking at me with a small smile on her face. “She loves you already.” Laura smiles, reaching for her phone and taking a picture.

“How do I look?”

“Scared shitless.” She laughs, leaning over to kiss my forehead. “Once we get her home, that look and feeling will go away. You’ll become a pro in no time.”

“Promise?”

“Of course.” She smiles, caressing my cheek. I look down and smile at the sleeping baby in my arms.

“She’s so tiny.” I say, running the tips of my fingers over her tiny features.

“She’s perfect.”

“She is.” I smile, looking up at Laura. “She has your nose. I wonder if she’ll acquire any personality traits from me.”

“Maybe, there are things that Danny does and the way she acts that rubbed off more on Reagan than Jack. Speaking of, I have to call them and my Dad.” Laura says, reaching for her phone. I begin to tone her out, as I get lost in staring at the baby in my arms. I feel a combination of different emotions as I watch her small chest rise and fall. Excitement of seeing her grow up, nervous that she’ll grow up too fast, fearful that I won’t be good enough for her. But at the same time I know I have Laura to help me through it all, and everything should be okay, and a little less nerve-wracking. “They are very excited to meet their sister tomorrow. I let Danny know that my dad will pick them up and bring them up here.”

“What did Danny say?”

“She congratulated us, she doesn’t know if she’s ready to meet Madison yet, but she was happy I was happy and that the kids were happy.”

“Okay.” I say, not looking up at her.

“What are you thinking?”

“I don’t want to screw up.” I whisper, feeling tears begin to sting my eyes.

“You won’t screw up.”

“I don’t know that.”

“I know that. Don’t think you will and you won’t. Everything will be fine. I promise you.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.” She chimes, kissing me softly when there was a knock on the door.

“Hello, sorry to interrupt.” The nurse says as she walks into the room. “Has she tried feeding yet?”

“She did a little bit since we’ve been up here, there wasn’t any issues.” Laura smiles politely.

“Wonderful. How the birth certificate needs to be filled out.” She chimes, taking a piece of paper. “We have her weight, the time, all that fun stuff. We have your information. What have we named her and who is the second parent?”

“Madison Elizabeth Hollis, and the other parent to be listed is Carmilla Karnstein. S-T-E-I-N.”

“I’m assuming you’re the Mother?” The nurse asks with a polite smile.

“Yes ma’am.” I chime, giving her the rest of the information she asked for before she left. I recline back in the car keeping Madison close to my chest.

“She looks comfortable.” Laura smiles, lying down and facing me.

“It feels like she was meant to fit there.” I say, looking down at her without moving too much.

“She was.” Laura says with a yawn.

“Go to sleep, you’re had a long day.”

“I’m alright.”

“Don’t force yourself to stay awake though. I’ll but her back in the thing.”

“The thing?”

“The bassinet thing.” I laugh, not know what to refer to the plastic crib as.

“Okay.” She yawns again. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” 

* * *

“Merry Christmas, Little One.” I chime, taking Madison out of her bassinet when she began crying. “Mommy needs to readjust before she can feed you. And you get to meet your brother and sister today.”

“Let me feed the baby.” Laura chimes, holding her arms out for Madison. I kiss the baby’s forehead before handing her over, once Laura fed her, she was handed back to be in order to be burped. There was a small knock on the door. “Come in!” Laura called out, only to have Sherman peak around the door.

“Everyone okay to come in?”

“Yes, sir.” Laura chimes, sitting up a bit as Sherman pushes the door open wide and the kids come walking in.

“Merry Christmas, Mom.” Reagan smiles, walking over and kissing her cheek.

“Merry Christmas, Mommy.” Jack says, climbing up and giving her a hug. “Where’s Madison?”

“Carm has her.” Laura smiles, pointing at me.

“Hello. Merry Christmas everyone.” I chime, readjusting Madison in my arms. “This is Madison.” I whisper, smiling down at the baby while she looked at me and smiled.

“Can I hold her?” Sherman asks.

“Of course.” I say, handing her over.

“When does she get to come home?” Jack asks.

“Tomorrow.” 

“Can I wait until she’s home to hold her?”

“Of course, Sweetie, you don’t have to hold her now.” Laura says.

“Okay.”

“Do you guys mind waiting to open your present until tomorrow?” She asks.

“I don’t mind waiting.” Reagan said.

“Me neither.”

“Okay. So we’ll have Christmas tomorrow.”

“Okay, Mom.” They say in unison.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think! I hope you are enjoying thus far... maybe let me know if you are either here or on Tumblr. juli-with-a-chance

-Laura POV-

“Carmilla, you can go the speed limit, you don’t have to go under.” I chime from the backseat as Laura drives slower than acceptable.

“I just want to make sure we get home safe.”

“And I want to get Madison home before the New Year.”

“Okay, okay.” She says, looking at me in the rear view mirror with a smile. It didn’t take much longer to get back home, as soon as we pulled in the driveway it began to snow.

“We’d have been caught in this if you didn’t speed up.” I chime as she opens the door for me.

“You’re right.”

“I know I am.”

“Get inside, everyone is waiting.” She smiles, giving me a kiss before unhooking Madison’s car seat and grabbing the bag. We walk in through the garage, making it a little less hectic as we walk into the empty kitchen. Carmilla puts the car seat on the table as I take off my jacket. She takes the baby out, laying her against her shoulder. “Do you want to hold her?”

“No, you can walk her in there.” I smile, stepping closer to Carmilla; I wrap my arms around her waist, lying my head on her chest as she holds her as best as she can. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” She says, kissing the top of my head.

“Let’s go show off our baby.” I smile, kissing her quickly as she takes my hand in hers and leads the way towards the living room where the kids, her parents, my dad, Laf and Perry were waiting expectantly. “Hello everyone.” I chime. “Thank you for coming to our Post-Christmas, Christmas… This little bundle decided she wanted to arrive just before Christmas.” I say with a chuckle, causing everyone to laugh. “So, here she is, Madison Elizabeth Hollis.” Carmilla turns slightly so everyone can see Madison’s face. She opens her eyes for a moment before closing them again.

“Oh, Darling. Congratulations.” Lilita smiles as she comes over to hug me. “Can I hold her?”

“Of course.” I say, watching her take the baby from Carmilla.

“She’s so precious.” Lilita chimes, looking down at Madison.

“She looks like Laura.” Carmilla smiles. I watch as Madison smirks ever so slightly.

“Uh. She has the smirk already.”

“The Karnstein smirk?” Carmilla asks, a little confused.

“It is inherited through osmosis. It just happens.” Lilita explains. “Will and Mattie both have the smirk and they perfected it through osmosis, as I like to say.”

“Did I hear the Karnstein smirk?” Peter chimes as he walks in from the hallway. “Congratulations girls.” He smiles, kissing Carmilla and I both on the cheek.

“Thank you.” Carmilla and I chime. “Apparently Madi here had already be able to acquire the Karnstein smirk in a matter of a day of being born.” Carm adds.

“Hi, Mommy.” Jack says, walking over and wrapping his arms around me.

“Hey, Sweetie.” I say, running my fingers through his hair. “You need a haircut.” I chime.

“Can I hold the baby?”

“Of course. Lilita, Jack would like to hold the baby.”

“Oh, I’m sorry Dear. Of cause you can hold your sister.”

“Go sit in the chair, make sure you’re all the way back.”

“Okay.” He chimes, walking towards the recliner. I watch as he climbs up, making sure he was sitting the way I asked him to. I walk over and grab the boppy pillow, placing it on his lap.

“When Lilita puts her on your lap, she’s going to lay Madison on the pillow, all you have to do is hold her head.” I explain as Lilita puts Madison on the pillow. “Hold her head like Lilita is, just be gentle okay?”

“I got it, Mom.” Jack says quietly.

“You do go it.” I smiles. I turn to see Carmilla wanting to take a picture.

“Look here, Kid.” She chimes; Jack looks up and smiles bright. “You’re doing a great job.”

“I get to hold her next.” Reagan says.

“Okay.” Jack says a little too loudly, causing Madison to cry a bit. “Oh, no. I’m sorry.” He whispers, looking up at us for help. I step in, taking Madison from his lap.

“It’s okay, Bud. Sometimes you just have to be quiet with a baby, sudden outburst could really upset them. But you’re okay, and she’s okay.” Carmilla explains.

“Okay, Carm.” He nods.

“Ready, Sweetheart?” I say, turning to where Reagan was sat on the couch. “Same as I told Jack, except I trust you to have a better hold on her than, Jack.”

“Support her head.” Reagan nods, cradling Madison in her arms. “Hello, Little Sister.” She coos.

“You’re a natural.” Carmilla chimes, watching Reagan hold the baby.

“Mom, can I open my presents?”

“Of course! You and Reagan can both get to your presents. Sorry for making you wait longer than you needed to.” I say, walking Jack rush over to his pile. “Did you?” I turn to Carmilla when I feel her hand on my back.

“Of course. I snuck it in quick last night when I ran here.” She chimes, leaning in to kiss me.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“Carm, can you take her? I want to open my gifts.”

“Of course.” Carmilla says, taking Madison.

“Actually, I have to feed her.” I say, taking the boppy. “Dad, can you take pictures, I don’t need an audience while I feed Madison.”

“Of course.”

“I’ll be back down in a minute, you can open what I got your guys, and whatever else everyone got you. Just wait for the stuff from Santa, I want to see what he brought.”

“Okay Mom.” They say in unison. 

“Thank you.” I chime, making my way upstairs with Carmilla following behind me. We walk into our bedroom and Carmilla sits on the bed. “I just want to change out of these hospital clothes.”

“Okay.” She chimes, looking down at Madison in her hands. I watched as Madison stared up at Carmilla, smiling at her. “You’re a beautiful, Kid.” Carmilla says quietly. “You look like Mommy. I’m Mama, if we haven’t cleared that up, I’m the person you got excited about hearing when you were in Mommy’s belly.” Carmilla explains, causing Madison to squirm around a bit. “You’re still excited aren’t you?” She coos, bringing Madison up to kiss her forehead. “I love you already, more than I thought I would.” She whispers against the baby’s forehead.

“Bring her over.” I say, walking over and sitting on the bed, putting the boppy on my lap. I adjust my shirt before Carmilla hands her to me.

“She really loves to eat.” Carm chuckles.

“You’re telling me.” I laugh. “Reagan would latch easily, like this little one. Jack on the other hand would take a little bit.” I explain, looking down at Madison. “You’re a great mother by the way.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I see it already. It’s only been a couple of days, but I know you’re an amazing mother.”

“Thank you.” She smiles, kissing my forehead as she takes Madison from my arms to burp her.

“Can you change her too?”

“Of course, Cupcake.” Carmilla smiles as she walks out of the room. I get out of bed and follow her into Madison’s room, leaning against the doorframe while I watch Carmilla. “Now, I haven’t the slightest clue what I’m doing, but I did watch Mommy, so hopefully I can do it.” I hear her say to Madison. “At least you won’t pee on me. My cousin, Luke, he peed on me when I offered to change him as a baby, boys can be so messy. If you ever decided you don’t want to be with a boy, that’s fine, just so you know. I mean, yeah it won’t matter too much to you now, but in the future, I know for a face Mommy and I will love you no matter what.” She chimes, kissing Madison’s forehead. “I love you so much already, I never thought I could love something as much as I love you.” Carmilla whispers, turning to see me standing in the door, I smile at her as her cheeks turn a shade of pink. “Hey, Cupcake.”

“I never knew you got peed on by a baby before.” I chime, walking in and taking Madison from her arms, placing the baby in her crib before turning the baby monitor on and taking the other one.

“Yeah, a while ago. Are you sure you want to leave her alone?”

“She has to be left alone, it’s good for her development, she needs to know and feel safe even when we aren’t around.”

“Okay.”

“Same with being noisy when she sleeps. It’s better for there to be a little noise so she can adapt to sleeping through it, rather than it being so quiet that closing a door will wake her up.”

“Whatever you say, you have more experience than I do.” Carmilla says, kissing the side of my head before walking out of the room. “We should go back downstairs so the other kids can finish opening their stuff.”

“Lead the way.” I smile, as Carmilla leans in and kisses me before going downstairs. We make it back into the living room to see Reagan and Jack didn’t get through off of their presents just yet, they were caught up talking to everyone and playing with different things.

“Mommy! Look what grandpa got me!” Jack says, rushing over with some kind of videogame.

“More videogames?” I sigh, shaking my head a bit. “Dad, we talked about that.”

“Please, it’s the twenty-first century and there is no way around not getting some kind of videogame, besides, this will at least keep him quiet in the car, it’s a handheld.”

“Okay, okay.” I say, rolling my eyes. “Did you open anything else?”

“Not yet, I was playing my new game, it’s Pokémon.” He chimes, looking at the game.

“Do you want anything, Cupcake?” Carmilla asks, walking up behind me and placing her hand on my back.

“No, thank you.” I say, walking over and sitting down beside Reagan. The rest of the evening was pleasant as the kids, and some of the adults, opened the rest of the presents under the tree. As soon as everyone left, Madison’s cries began to fill the room.

“I’ll get her.” Carmilla says, starting to jump up from the couch.

“I got it, she probably needs to eat again.”

“Okay.”

“Can you just straighten up here? Make sure you get that Nintendo thing away from Jack soon.”

“Okay, Sweetheart.” She smiles as I lean down to kiss her. “I’ll see you in bed soon?”

“Of course.” I chime, kissing her again.

 

-Carmilla POV- 

After making sure everything was cleaned up downstairs and all the doors were locked, I set the alarm and made my way upstairs. I go into Reagan’s room to see her fiddling with her new laptop. “Rae, are you ready for bed?”

“Yes, Carm. Once I have this set up, I’m going to sleep.”

“Okay.” I smile.

“Thank you again for the books, I’m going to start reading them soon.”

“No problem, Kiddo. I’m happy you liked them. I’ll see you in the morning.” 

“See you in the morning.” She smiles, going back to what she was doing. I close her door and walk over to Jack’s room. I walk in to see him sitting in the middle of his bed playing his game.

“Okay, Kid. Bedtime.” I say, walking over and holding my hand out for the game.

“But, Carm.” He whines.

“Your mother’s orders, not mine. Hand it over.”

“Fine.” He sighs, pushing a few buttons and turning it off. He closes it and hands it to me. “When will I get it back?”

“Talk to Mom in the morning.” I say. “I’ll see you tomorrow, sleep well.”

“Thanks, Carm. I’ll see you in the morning.” Jack chimes sitting up to give me a hug. “Thank you for the presents.”

“You’re welcome, Kid.”

“And thank you for taking care of Mommy and Madison.”

“Of course, I will always take care of them, and you, and Reagan.” I say, brushing his hair back. “You need a haircut.”

“Mommy said the same thing earlier.” He giggles. “The long hair keeps my head extra warm in the winter though.”

“Whatever you say. Go to sleep.” I say, turning to walk out of his room, shutting off the light and closing his door. I walk into the other room to see Laura, sitting in the middle of our bed making faces at Madison, who she had on the bed in front of her.

“Look, it’s Mama.” She chimes, glancing up at me. “You love Mama so much don’t you?” Laura coos, causing Madison to smile as I walked over and say on my side of the bed. I lean over and kiss Laura on the side of the head, opening my bedside table and putting out a neatly wrapped box. “What’s this?”

“My gift to you.” I whisper.

“I told you not to buy me anything.” She smiles, leaning in to kiss me softly.

“I wanted to buy you something though.” I shrug, looking over at Madison who was fast asleep. I watch as she tears at the paper, she looks at me for a moment before opening the box. “I didn’t want to get you jewelry, or something like that. I feel like anyone can get you that.”

“You put together a photo album?” She asks with a smile.

“Yeah, I had a lot of pictured on my phone, some sneaky, some not so much. Jack took a bunch at Halloween, so…”

“I love it.” She smiles, leaning over and kissing me. “I love you. No one has ever been sentimental like this with me. Thank you so much.” She says, looking through the album. “I remember this day, you thought it would be a great idea to go to park and have a picnic until the ducks started chasing you.”

“Thankfully that beautiful picture was taken just before that.” 

“You’re telling me.” She laughs. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure, anything.” I say, getting off the bed and picking Madison up gently, moving her to her bassinet next to Laura’s side of the bed.

“I know you’re young, you’ve got a lot of time to really consider a lot of things in your life and all, but I was just wondering if you’d ever consider…”

“Marrying you?” I say when she trails off. “I’ve thought about it.” I say, walking towards the bathroom to wash up. I hear her get out of bed, walking into the bathroom with me, closing the door over.

“Do you want to talk about it?” She asks, hopping up to sit on the counter. “I mean; we don’t have to if you don’t want to. I don’t know if you want to or whatever.” I step in between her legs, running my hands up and down her thighs.

“Your age is something that we can’t change, but that doesn’t matter to me at all. I love you; we’re going to raise a baby together. I want to be here for that until she’s getting sent off to college and we’re there to cry like babies while we help her move into her dorm room, and you’ll be there to embarrass her in front of her roommate and I’ll be there to make sure anyone coming into that room isn’t a potential romantic affair waiting to happen.” I say with a laugh as Laura rolls her eyes at me. She places her hands on my shoulders. “I love you, Laura. I don’t care about anything other than you, and the gremlins.” I chime. “We have time to let the idea of marriage set in and become an issue of some sort, I just know that when the time is right, it will happen and fall into place. Jack will be our ring bearer and Madison can be the flower girl. Reagan can be a maid of honor, we’ll have such a nice wedding, and of course enough sweets for you to shove in your face the whole night.”

“I don’t deserve you.” Laura smiles, resting her forehead against mine.

“You deserve me just as much as I deserve you.”

“You’re the purest love I think I’ve ever had in my life. There’s something that I can’t explain, I just know being with you is right.”

“I feel the same way.” I say, kissing her tenderly. “I know what you mean, Cupcake.”

“Promise you won’t leave me like Danny did.” She whispers, her chin trembling as tears threaten to spill from her eyes. “Promise you won’t allow things to crumble around us and not attempt to save it.”

“I promise.”


	14. Chapter 14

-Carmilla POV-

Madison is nearly three months old now, it was amazing to see her grow so quickly, and become more alert as the time has gone by. There was something about her that made me the happiest person in the entire world and although she wasn’t mine entirely, I know that sharing her with Laura is something I wouldn’t change for the world. I walked into her nursery to see her sitting in her swing with a smile on her face as Jackson made faces at her. “Hey Kid.”

“Hi.” Jack smiles, turning to face me. “Mom asked me to keep her company for a minute cause Grandpa called. Can I go now?”

“Sure. I’ll take over.” I smile, walking over and taking Madison from her swing. “Hello, Baby.” I coo, kissing her cheek as she giggles. “I missed you today, too.” I chime, walking out of the room to find Laura in our room, sitting on the edge of the bed as she spoke on the phone. She looks over and smiles, patting the bed for me to sit next to her. I sit down beside her and she leans in and kisses me quickly before kissing Madison on her cheek. I move and sit Madison up near the pillows before going to change quickly and lying down next to her on my side of the bed. I play with Madison while Laura finished up her phone call.

“Hey.” She says, tossing her phone on the dresser before walking over and lying on the other side of Madison. “How was Reagan?”

“She was fine, I dropped her off at the party and she said she’ll call when she’s ready to come home.” I shrug. “Are you okay?” 

“Yeah, Dad was just calling to give me the life story of his weekend and all.” She says, rolling her eyes. “Was she okay with, Jack?”

“I’m assuming, when I walked in, Jack, was making faces at her while she was in her swing. Was she good today?”

“As good as a three-month-old can be.” She shrugs. “How was work?”

“Boring.”

“I could only imagine.”

“I’d rather be home all day with Madison.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I want to go back to work, if you want to stay home with her then be my guest.”

“What about my schooling?” 

“You can take online classes.”

“That’s like me telling you, you can work from home.” I say, sitting up a bit.

“Look, I know you’re a first time parent and that staying home seems like the right thing to do rather than working, but it isn’t as easy as you think.”

“I don’t need you condescending me.”

“I’m not trying to.”

“If I want to stay home with Madison, it shouldn’t be an issue, but at the same time I would like to go back to school next semester.”

“Then we’ll have to find a good daycare for her.”

“I don’t want that either.”

“Well I’m going back to work on campus next semester, I already spoke to your mother.”

“So what am I supposed to do?”

“You’re an adult, you can either go to school on campus or take classes online.”

“I want to go to campus, I like going to campus.”

“Than we’ll have to figure it out for her to be watched over, Dad can probably do it on certain days, but not every day… And we’re arguing about something so stupid, I’ll only be working two days a week, and you can make your schedule to work it out however you want. If you want to be with her when I’m not home than you can do a Monday, Wednesday schedule. I only do Tuesday, Thursday because of Reagan’s sports schedule.”

“You’re right.” I say, shaking my head. “I just want to be with her as much as possible, I don’t want to miss a moment of her growing up because before we know it, she’s going to be going to kindergarten.”

“Trust me, I know that feeling. I feel it too, but at the same time, I know what I have to do for my other kids, and what I have to do to maintain everything. That’s what responsibility is.” She says, reaching over and caressing my cheek. “No matter what you choose to do, I will love you and support you in that decision, but you have to know if it’s a responsible choice to make in the long run, Sweetheart.”

“I know.”

“You’re young. I understand that you’re still learning about what it is to be responsible in the right ways, but I also know that you are, at the same time, very responsible for you age.”

“Do you talk to my mother about me?”

“Occasionally, now that you and I are parents to this little being.” She smiles, patting Madison’s belly.

“So you’re basically treating her like an in-law?”

“You’re acting like you don’t treat my dad like he’s your father-in-law.” She scoffs.

“Touché, I won’t argue that one.”

“What do you want to do for dinner?”

“I don’t know.” I shrug. “Doesn’t that question ever annoy you?” I ask, looking down at Madison to see her staring at me as she chewed on one of her baby toys.

“You look at her like she’s made of gold.” Laura comments, looking at me with a smirk.

“Because she is the most rewarding thing to happen to me.” I say, looking up at Laura. “No matter what. No matter how I feel about anything else, or how much I complain about my schedules and stuff like that, the way I care for her will never change.”

“For someone who was so nervous, and scared to have a kid, you are the best mother she could ask for.”

“Thank you.” I smiles, leaning over Madison to kiss Laura quickly. “I’m sorry about earlier, the bickering…”

“We were able to find a compromise.” She shrugs, taking of her shirt and picking up Madison to feed her. “That’s what makes relationships work. Compromise.” She smiles.

“Like the compromise to burp and change, Madison after you feed her.”

“I suppose that’s the same.” Laura laughs. Leaning over to kiss me.

“I love you, Cupcake.” I say, kissing her again.

“I love you, too.” 

* * *

“Are you ready to see Mommy?” I ask Madison as I rest her on my hip, the five-month-old looks at me with a smile. “Nana may want to see you too, we’ll see what happens.” I say, kissing the side of her head. “Hi, Sue.” I chime, watching the older woman nearly jump out of her seat.

“Is this the little munchkin I only get to see in pictures?” She squeals, taking Madison from my arms.

“The one and only, where’s my mom, or Laura for that matter?”

“Your mother is in an important meeting, so she won’t be done for a while, and Laura should be in her office, I saw her rush by earlier.”

“Thank you.”

“Make sure you stop again so I can see this little cherub.”

“I will, don’t worry.” I say, taking Madison from her again. I make my way towards Laura’s office, knocking on the door and opening it to see Laura standing with her arms crossed over her chest and tears threatening to spill down her face, I look in the direction she’s looking in to see Danny standing in the corner. “Hey. Is everything okay?” I say, making my way towards Laura and kissing her cheek.

“Everything is fine.” Danny snaps.

“I was asking, Laura.”

“Everything is fine.” Laura says quietly, bowing her head as she wipes the tears from her eyes. “What a nice surprise though.” She says, smiling as she takes Madison from my arms. “She looks cute.”

“I decided to put on the yellow dress you have been waiting to see her in seeing as it was pretty warm today.”

“You looks so beautiful today, sweetie.” She whispers, kissing Madison’s cheek as she walks over and sits on the couch. “Get out of my office.” Laura turns to Danny.

“But.”

“No, get the hell out of here, now.” She says calmly as she makes faces at Madison. Danny huffs, walking out of the office and slamming the door and causing the framed pictures on Laura’s wall to shake. “Bitch.”

“What happened?”

“Can we talk about it later?”

“Of course, whenever you want to.”

“Let’s go to lunch, take this little one with us. Jack is going to Perry’s and Reagan I going to her friend’s, so we don’t have it rush home.”

“Okay, Do you want to bring a car home first or?”

“Yeah, we’ll drop yours off and take mine.”

“Okay.” I smile, kissing her quickly.

 

-Laura POV-

“So do you want to talk about what happened?” Carmilla asks after we give the waitress our orders.

“Danny came unannounced to my office demanding I let Reagan and Jack go away with her for the weekend, she walks to take them to some amusement park or something.” I say, as Madison takes my finger in her hands and she sits in my lap. “I wouldn’t let her do that because it isn’t right for her to demand such a thing.”

“And what else happened?”

“That’s it. It just annoyed me to no end, seeing as I was caught off guard and she wants to take them tomorrow for until Sunday.”

“Doesn’t she know Rae has a game on Sundays? That never changed.”

“I know, Danny is just selfish and I really can’t stand her.”

“Don’t let that get to you.” Carmilla says, reaching over and taking my free hand in hers. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” I say quietly with a smile. I watch as Carmilla reaches into her bag, pulling out a pale yellow gift bag and pushing it towards me. “What is it?”

“Open it to find out.” She chimes, taking a sip of her coffee.

“Carm…” I chime, opening the bag and pulling out a little box. “Is this?”

“I didn’t want to be over the top, I didn’t want to be extravagant in asking. That isn’t me, that isn’t us. But I feel like now is the best time. I mean, sitting in this diner with Madison wasn’t the ideal plan, but it felt like as good a time as any.”

“How long have you been carrying this around in your bag?” I ask, looking down at the box.

“A couple of months.” Carmilla shrugs, her signature smirk on her face. “You still haven’t looked at it.”

“You haven’t officially asked.” I chime.

“Laura, love of my life, Mother of my daughter, will you marry me?” She asks. I open the box and look at the ring, taking it out of the box and slipping it onto my finger.

“Yes.” I nod, looking at the ring with a smile. It was simple a single diamond and a white gold band. “Isn’t it pretty, Mad?” I ask, holding my hand up to her. She looks at the jewelry curiously before taking my finger into her mouth. “I think she likes it.” I smile watching as Carmilla moves to sit beside me, leaning in to kiss me as she takes Madison into her lap. 

“I love you."

“I love you too.” I chime kissing her again.

“Can we wait to have the wedding until she can walk and be our flower girl?”

“Seeing as that shouldn’t be that far off, yes. Jackson is going to want to be the ring bearer and Reagan can be my Maid of Honor.”

“There it’s planned already.” Carmilla chimes as she bounces Madison on her lap.

“How do you think we should tell the kids?”

“That’s your call, Cupcake. You’re their mother, however you see fit.”

“Okay.” I nod, kissing her quickly as our food is placed in front of us.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick little something, let me know what you think :)


	15. Chapter 15

-Carmilla POV-

“What are you doing, Carm?” Reagan asks, walking into the living room to see Madison and I sat on the floor.

“Trying to get your sister to walk, she stands up on her own but flops right back down.”

“Oh, is that how I was taught to walk?”

“I don’t know you’d have to ask Mom, but I would think so.” I smile, taking Madison’s hands in mine and watching her stand up with a smile. “Hello, are you going to try again?” I coo, letting go of her little hands and scooting back from her a bit.

“What are you guys up to?” Laura chimes, walking into the living room. Madison turns her head and laughs, stumbling towards Laura with a smile on her face. Laura kneels down, opening her arms for Madison. “Oh my, you are getting so big now.” Laura coos, picking Madison up and kissing her cheek. “My baby is growing up.”

“You’re lucky I had my phone out all afternoon, I was trying to make her walk for the past hour.” I say, getting up from the floor and walking over to give Laura a kiss. “Perry called; she said she’s coming by around seven with samples for the cake.”

“Okay.” Laura nods, kissing me again. “Someone needs to be changed. Come on, let’s go change you.” Laura says to Madison, kissing her cheek and walking up stairs.

“Can I taste cakes too?” Reagan asks, plopping down on the couch and turning on the TV.

“You know we want you and Jack to be involved with the wedding as much as possible, so if you want to I don’t see a problem.”

“Thanks, Carm.”

“You’re welcome kiddo.” 

* * *

“Before we start, I want to let you know that if you go faster than it takes for me to explain, you won’t be able to taste anymore. Got it Jack.” Perry explains, looking at Jack with a knowing smile, seeing as he’ll eat everything before there is a chance to talk about it.

“Okay, Aunt Perry.” He giggles.

“Alright, let’s get started. I brought over five samples that I feel the two of you would enjoy. The first one is a classic, white cake, vanilla bean buttercream.”

“This is good, but I think it’s too original and plain.” I say, looking over at Laura to see she ate the whole piece already. “I think she likes it though.” I laugh, wiping the frosting from the corner of Laura’s mouth.

“I agree that it’s too plain, but I do like it very much.”

“What about you two?” Perry asks, looking towards Jack and Reagan.

“I like.” Jack says, reaching over to take the rest of Reagan’s piece.

“I don’t like it all that much, too plain and a little too sweet for me. Do you have anything with chocolate? Please.” Reagan chimes.

“I have two.” Perry smiles, walking back into the kitchen. She comes pack with a tray with two different looking cakes, but chocolate is evident on both. “This one is triple chocolate with a cookies and crème filling, and the other is a cookie dough flavored cake, there isn’t real cookie dough in it, but a mock cookie dough buttercream and chocolate chip cake.” Laura takes a bite of the cookie dough cake and moans at the taste.

“That sound was slightly pornographic, Cupcake.” I whisper in her ear, kissing just behind her ear. “The cookie dough is clearly the favorite.” I tease, feeling Laura push my arm a bit.

“I can concur.” Perry says with a laugh as the faint sound of Madison crying begins to fill the room through the baby monitor.

“I’ll go get her.” I say, getting up from the table.

“Change her before you bring her down.” Laura chimes.

“I know, I know.” I make my way up to Madison’s room to see her standing up in her crib, her face red as tears run down her cheeks. “What’s wrong, sweetie?” I coo, walking over and taking her out of the crib. I rest my cheek against her forehead to feel that she’s warm. “Laura, I know you’re still listening on the other end of this thing, can you get up here?” I call towards the baby monitor as I start to change her diaper.

“What’s wrong?”

“She’s hot.” I explain, moving over to make room for Laura.

“She has a fever.” Laura sighs, changing her into lightweight pajamas. “Are you ready to be up all night with a sick baby?”

“Ready as ever.” I chime, kissing the side of Laura’s head.

“Okay then. Go make a fresh pot of coffee and let Perry know what’s going on, tell her we’ll go with the cookie dough cake.”

“Okay.” I smile, making my way downstairs. I let Perry know what was asked of me, and make a pot of coffee.

“Can I eat the leftover cake?” Jack asks, looking at me with grin that reminded me everyday of Laura.

“Of course. Make sure you brush your teeth right after.”

“Okay, Carm!”

“Is everything okay?” Reagan asks, walking into the kitchen.

“Madison is running a fever, your mom expects us to be up all night.” I say as I make a fresh pot of coffee.

“Probably. Mom says one thing about sick babies as that they could be up all night, she likes to give me parenting tips for some reason.” Reagan says, rolling her eyes.

“She just wants you to be prepared.”

“I know, but I’m only fourteen, I don’t need to be prepared for that just yet.” She says, walking out of the room. Laura appears in the entryway with Madison on her hip as she sucks her pacifier, resting her head in the crook of Laura’s neck.

“Everything okay?” 

“She’s still hot. I was going to give her some juice and put her on the couch for a little while.” Laura explains.

“Okay, Jackson is finishing off the cake samples, I told him to brush his teeth right away and Reagan was going up to her room.”

“Okay.” Laura responses, effortlessly fixing a sippy cup full of apple juice with one hand. “What?”

“You’re a super mom.” I say, kissing her quickly.

“You’ll be able to do things like that soon enough.” She says, tightening the lid as she hands the cup to Madison. Madison takes her pacifier from her mouth and begins drinking her juice. “Want to go watch Mickey?”

“Yah.” Madison responds as Laura walks into the living room with her. I fix Laura and I both a cup of coffee, walking out of the kitchen towards the living room. I look into the dining room to see Jackson licking the frosting off of his plate. 

“Dude, put the plate in the sink and go wash your face and brush your teeth before your mother kicks both of our butts.”

“Okay Carm.” The little boy chimes with chocolate on his face. I smile as he bounces towards the kitchen. I walk into the living room to see Madison with her head on Laura’s lap as she watches TV. I walk in and sit beside Laura, handing her a cup of coffee before wrapping my arm around her shoulder.

“Everything okay?” I ask, kissing the side of Laura’s head before reaching down to fell Madison’s forehead.

“For the most part, I just want to keep her comfortable.” Laura explains through a yawn.

“Are you going to fall asleep here?”

“I don’t know, why?”

“I’ll get your pillow and a blanket.”

“No, that’s okay. Maybe I’ll just put the TV on in our room for her. I have some work I should get done anyway.”

“I’ll take her up.” I say, getting up and taking Madison with me. “Just fill her cup up?”

“Sure.”

“We’re going in Mommy and Mama’s bed, okay?” I say to Madison, who nods.

 

-Laura POV-

I walk into the bedroom to see Carmilla and Madison in bed. Madison was propped up on a few pillows so she was in more of a sitting position, while Carmilla way lying on her back, reading a book. Carmilla looks over the top of her book and smiles, closing it and rubbing her eyes under her glasses. “Hey, Cupcake. Everything okay?”

“Yeah, Jack took a little while to get to bed due to all the sugar, and Reagan was out like a light.” I say, walking over to the dresser, pulling out a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt. “I’m gonna shower quick.”

“Okay.”

“Is she still warm?” I watch as Carm rests the back of her hand on Madison’s forehead.

“Yeah, she may have gotten hotter.” I sigh, putting the clothes on the chair before walking out of the room and into the kids’ bathroom. I come back with a thermometer; I watch as Carmilla’s face becomes concerned. “What do you do with that thing?”

“It doesn’t go in anywhere.” I laugh. “It’s a light beam type thing.” I say, pushing a button as a red light goes across Madison’s forehead. “See, it reads it that way, like inferred or something.” I shrug, the thermometer beeps. “It’s just over a hundred. It isn’t too bad, but it’s still a fever nonetheless.”

“Poor baby.” Carmilla coos, kissing the side of her head. “Are you going to give her medicine?”

“Yeah, even though she isn’t too fussy or anything like that.”

“My poor kid has to get medicine now.”

“Don’t be so dramatic, it’s just Motrin. It shouldn’t be too bad. I could have to give her Robitussin.”

“That shit it pure evil, I don’t even take it as an adult.” Carmilla says, shaking her head.

“You’re such a baby, I hope I never have to deal with you when you’re sick.”

“Wow, breaking a vow before it’s even made, I see how it is. The sickness and in health portion of the vow may have to be omitted.”

“So dramatic.” I tease, going back into the bathroom across the hall to get the medicine. 

“How do you give it to her?”

“This little syringe sucker thing.” I show Carmilla as I suck up the medicine to the proper dose line for Madison.

“Then what do you do, shove it in her mouth?”

“No.” I roll my eyes as I move to sit across from Madison. “Hand me her juice.” I say, taking the pacifier from her mouth.

“Ma!” She says with a smile.

“Hi, Sweet Pea. Can you open your mouth for Mommy?” Madison does as she’s told, and I give her the medicine effortlessly. I hand her the sippy cup and watch as she drinks some juice before putting the pacifier back into her mouth as she continues to watch TV. I kiss her forehead lightly. “You’re so good.” I say, causing the little girl to smile brightly.

“I swear you have some kind of magical parent powers.”

“They developed over a long period of time, I suppose.”

“I have a question.”

“Okay.” I say, moving to make myself comfortable as I turn off the light, making it dark except for the TV.

“Are we writing our own vows for the wedding or so you want to do traditional ones?”

“What would you rather do?”

“Honestly? Write them our selves. It gives up a chance to be a little more sentimental and not generic.”

“I was thinking the same thing. But we of course, keep the to ourselves until our wedding.”

“Of course, I don’t want to ruin the surprise.” Carmilla says, leaning over Madison to kiss me softly. “Just know that you are probably going to cry, so wear waterproof make up.”

“I can’t stand you.”

“Well, you better get used to it because you’re going to be stuck with me for a very long time.”

“I know.” I laugh, rolling my eyes in a teasing manner. “I have a question for you know.”

“Okay.”

“Do you want to have more children?” I watch as Carmilla thinks about an answer. “I know it’s a very touchy question, but I was curious.”

“I don’t know, honestly. I think three is enough for us. I mean granted, Jack and Reagan are getting older and this peanut still have time to grow, but at the same time, I don’t know if I would want to have another, even when Madison is older. That isn’t something I want to think about it, especially because I know I’m going to have to carry it.”

“You don’t want to carry a child?”

“I’m moody enough without being pregnant, imagine how I’d be if I was pregnant? I’d probably be a real nightmare.”

“Probably.”

“I just want to focus on us right now, and worry about Madison getting better.”

“I know, Carm. I was just curious about what I asked you, that’s all.”

“I know, Cupcake.”

“I love you.” I say, leaning over to kiss her softly.

“I love you too.”


	16. Chapter 16

-Carmilla POV-

“You still don’t know what you’re going to wear?” Ell asks as we walk around the department store.

“Laura already found her dress already, she walked in the other day bragging about it, which drove me crazy.”

“Why, because you know you can’t see her in it for another three weeks?”

“Exactly. This wedding has been a hell of a lot more intense than I thought it would be.” I sigh.

“You didn’t have to ask her to marry you.”

“I want to marry her though.”

“She’s like eighteen years older than you, you could have anyone in the world but you fell in love with your professor, who was already married and has kids…”

“I don’t see your point.”

“My point is that you didn’t have to do that to yourself.”

“I don’t regret it though, Ell… I don’t at all.”

“So then what is it?”

“I don’t know. I think I just want it to be over with. I want to just get everything done. All this planning and discussions, making menus, and trying cake. Taking the kids get to their outfits. Figuring out color schemes, all of it, I just can’t take it anymore.”

“What was her first wedding like?” 

“I don’t know she doesn’t really talk about it. But I can tell you it wasn’t all that great, she seems too hands on for a second wedding. I know when my aunt got remarried, she hated planning it so much that she decided to elope with my uncle in Vegas.”

“So she probably never got her dream wedding and is trying to get it this time around.”

“Probably. I think I’m going to go with a suit. I hate all these dresses. I should let Laura have her moment in her dress and everything like that. She wants the wedding more than I do, really.”

“So then let her have her moment, and just go with the flow. Besides, you’re going to look a lot better in a suit than you would a dress. A nice tailored white suit.”

“Like what’s her name from, The Real L Word?” 

“You’re so gay, but yes. Whitney.”

“The fact that I am the lesbian here and forgot her name and yet, you know what it is… that’s very questionable, Ell.”

“Shut up. You made me watch it cause you felt weird watching it alone.” Ell says, rolling her eyes. “But something like that.”

“Yeah. Something like that would be good.” I say, trying to find a picture in my phone. “I know who to talk to about where to go to get a well tailored suit.” 

* * *

“I’m surprised you called me.” LaFontaine says as we walk down the street.

“You were the only person I though of when I needed a suit. I figured you’d know the place to go.”

“Yeah, I know a guy. He makes the best suit for all body types and styles.”

“I can’t thank you enough.”

“I understand. I remember the pre wedding stress. All the things you go through to make the wife happy. I get it.” They say with a smile. “Laura didn’t have the chance to have a real dream wedding, so I think she’s excited for what’s to come.”

“I think so too.” I sigh. “It’s just nerve wracking.”

“I know. I remember all of those feelings all too well. But in the long wrong it was all worth. After all this stress and planning, everything will fall into place.”

“Thanks, Brainiac.”

“No problem, Elvira.” They chime as we walk into the suit shop.

 

-Laura POV-

“Mommy, where Mama?” Madison asks as she sits in her highchair.

“Mama, will be home soon.” I chime, placing pieces of strawberries on her tray.

“Oh.” The nineteen-month-old says, picking up a strawberry and looking at it curiously before popping it in her mouth. “Yummy.”

“What’s yummy?” Carmilla chimes, walking through the door that led to the garage.

“Hi, Mama!”

“Hello my girl, you’re getting too big.” She says, kissing Madison on the cheek before taking the strawberry Madison was offering. “You’re right, that is yummy. What color is it?”

“Red!” The toddler says proudly.

“So smart.” Carmilla smiles before kissing Madison on the top of her head. “Hey.” She says, walking towards me and giving me a kiss.

“How was your day? Did you get everything you needed?”

“Yeah, I found something to wear for the wedding.” Carmilla chimes, wrapping her arms around me.

“Do I get to know what it is?” I ask, resting my arms on her shoulders.

“No, not until our wedding day.” She whispers as she leans in to kiss me.

“Mama!” Madison shouts.

“Madison!” Carmilla says back, earning a giggle from the little girl.

“Love you.”

“I love you too.” Carmilla says with a playful tone as she goes to pepper the girl’s face with kisses, causing Madison to start laughing uncontrollably. “You’re sucha cutie like Mommy.”

“I cute, Mommy!”

“You are beautiful, my love.” I say, walking over to give her a kiss. “Tell Mama what you learned today.”

“My birthday is December 24th.” Madison articulates with a smile.

“Wonderful, Sweetheart. Do you know what day that also is?” Carmilla asks.

“Christmas Eve! Mommy said Santa comin’!”

“Why is she so smart?”

“We are teaching her things in the most crucial years of development. You’ve been reading to her since the day she was born, and I always try to explain things to her and expose her to things, even if I know or think she doesn’t understand, but she does. Everything from singing ABC, to counting, to letting her look up at the clouds in the sky. She’s so smart, Carm. Thanks to us, she is so very smart.” I explain. “When you’re a hands on parent, you are able to have kids grow up and be pretty well rounded by kindergarten.”

“You’re such an amazing woman and mother. I couldn’t ask for anyone else to share this experience with.” Carmilla says, walking over to kiss me.

“Ew!” Madison shouts as she munches on a strawberry. “I’m done, Mama.” She says, pointing to the empty tray. Carmilla goes over and gets a wipe from the container under the sink to wipe Madison’s hands and face before letting her out. “Thank you.” The little girl says, kissing Carmilla’s cheek before Carmilla puts her down. Madison runs out of the kitchen and into the living room.

“I think I want to start potty training her soon.”

“She’s barely two, Cupcake.”

“I had Jackson and Reagan potty trained before they were two, of course they couldn’t last through the night until they were about four, but potty trained for the day at two.”

“If that’s what you want, I’ll reinforce it.” Carmilla smiles before kissing me quickly as she walks out of the kitchen. “I have a thesis to write.”

“I can’t believe you’re graduating soon.”

“Finally.”

“At least you’ll have a Masters in Philosophy.”

“I’m going to for my teaching degree.”

“Really? You want to teach?”

“Why not? At least it will be useful, and my mom said she’d put in a few good words wherever I choose to apply.”

“You don’t want to work at Silas?”

“I’ve been there long enough, and I don’t really want my mom as a boss.”

“Understandable.” I smile, wrapping her in a hug. “I’m so proud of you.”

“Thank you, Cupcake.” She says, leaning in to kiss me. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” I smile. “I better go check on that little monkey before she gets herself in trouble.” I say, walking into the living room to see Madison climbing onto the couch. “Are you being good?”

“Yes.” She chimes, nodding her head. “Where Rae-Rae?”

“She’s at school, she should be home soon.”

“Jack too?”

“Jack too.” I smile; brushing back her dirty blonde curls.

“I love Jack.”

“I know you do.”

“And Rae-Rae.”

“Of course, and they love you too, Sweetheart.” I say, kissing the side of her head.

“Mickey Mouse. Please.” Madison says, pointing at the TV. “Rae-Rae!” Madison shouts as she hears the front door open and seeing Reagan standing in the entryway of the living room. Madison jumps off the couch, running over to hug her sister.

“Hey Madison.” Reagan chimes, picking Madison up and giving her a proper hug. 

“Hi Sweetie, how was school?”

“Good, I got an A on my science test.”

“Good job.” I say, giving her a high five as she walks past. “Everything else going good?”

“Of course, Mom. I have a paper to work on for English this week. Mama texted me.” Reagan says, walking and sitting on the couch.

“What did she say?”

“She wants to see Jack and I for dinner tonight. I told her I would talk to you.”

“Do you want to go?”

“Not really. I mean we haven’t seen her in weeks and she only calls when she feels like it.”

“But she is still your Mama, if you want to go, you can.”

“I’ll see if Jack wants to when he gets home.”

 

-Carmilla POV- 

I was sitting at the desk, lost in my typing as I worked on my thesis when I feel a small body crash into my side, I look down to see Madison looking up at me with a smile, I couldn’t help but pick her up, kissing her cheek. “Where’s Mommy?"

“Downstairs.”

“Okay. Can I finish what I’m doing? You can stay on my lap.”

“Okay.” She smiles, I hand her a toy to keep her occupied as I finish up on my paper. When I’m done I look over to see Laura walking into the room looking a bit upset.

“Is everything okay, Cupcake?”

“Yeah.” She nods, walking over and kissing me forehead. “Come on, we have to get you ready for bed, Princess.”

“Okay, Mommy. Story Mama?”

“After your bath, you know that.” I smile, kissing Madison on the cheek.

“Okay Mama.” She smiles, running out of the room. 

“Are you okay?”

“I’ll talk to you about it when Madison is asleep.”

“Okay, did Jack and Reagan come home?”

“Yeah, they’re in their rooms.”

“Okay. I love you, Laura.”

“And I love you, Carmilla.” She says, kissing me again. Before making her way to the bathroom. After getting lost in my work again, I hear giggling coming from the hallway followed by the pitter-patter of little feet.

“Mama! Story!” Madison says, rushing into the room.

“Of course, my girl.” I smile, picking her up and walking into her room. “Want to join us for story time, Cupcake?” I ask as I meet Laura in the hallway.

“No thank you. I have to fold laundry.”

“Okay.” I say, kissing her quickly.

“Night Mommy.” Madison says, leaning over and kissing Laura on the cheek.

“Goodnight Sweetie.” Laura smiles, kissing Madison on the forehead. “Sweet dreams.”

 

-Laura POV-

I feel Carmilla wrap her arms around me from behind, kissing the back of my neck. “Are you okay?” She whispers against my skin.

“No.” I say, turning around and wrapping my arms around her, holding her close.

“What happened?”

“I just hate Danny.”

“I know that, Cupcake, that isn’t news.” Carmilla chuckles as she runs her fingers through my hair. “What happened?”

“She’s just fucking obnoxious, she want to take the kids away for Christmas this year, like she does every year and I always tell her no, especially since it’s Madison’s birthday on Christmas Eve. And then she proceeds to tell me off and call me names, like what the fuck?”

“Cupcake, calm down.” 

“I can’t calm down. She took Reagan and Jack to meet her new girlfriend tonight, I don’t want them around new people in her life.”

“Why is that?”

“She has too many people rotating too much, this is like the fourth girlfriend the kids have met…” I say, wiping my eyes.

“Why are you letting it upset you so much?” Carmilla says, wiping the tears from my cheeks.

“I don’t know.”

“You have nothing to get upset about when it comes to, Danny. Reagan and Jackson are old enough and well aware enough to make decisions for themselves when it comes to how often they want to see Danny.”

“I know, and they never want to see her, let alone want to go away with her.”

“So there, don’t worry about anything, Creampuff.” Carmilla smiles as she leans in to kiss me. “I love you, and the gremlins, more than you will ever know.”

“I know that.” I smile, kissing her again. “Are you going to come with us tomorrow to go shopping for Reagan’s dress and Madison’s dress?” 

“Of course, what about Jack?”

“My dad is going to take him for his suit.”

“Okay.”

“What are you wearing?”

“Can’t tell you.” Carmilla smiles.

“Can I get a hint?”

“Never, I am going to make you wait until the day.” She whispers, kissing me deeply.

“Please.” I whisper as she moves to kiss my neck.

“Okay, I’ll give you one hint.” She says continuing to kiss my neck. “It’s white.” She says with a laugh as I shove her playfully. 

“You’re an ass hole.”

“You still want to marry me?”

“Of course.”


	17. Chapter 17

-Carmilla POV-

“Mama, pretty dress.” Madison chimes, walking out of the dressing room with Laura trailing behind her. Madison had on a pale yellow flower girl dress. “It’s poufy.”

“You look beautiful, Princess.” I say, crouching down to be at eye level with her and kissing her cheek.

“I Belle, Mama.”

“You do look like Belle, she’s your favorite.”

“Jack is Beast.” Madison says causing her self to start laughing. I couldn’t help but chuckle at her.

“I love you, Munchkin.” I say, kissing her cheek. “Do you like it?”

“Yes pwease.”

“Do you like it, Carm?” Laura asks, finally coming out of the dressing room.

“I Belle, Mommy!”

“You look like the most beautiful princess ever.” Laura says, walking Madison over to one of the mirrors.

“Keep it Mama?” Madison asks, looking up at me.

“What do you think, Cupcake?”

“I think she looks so cute, we’ll keep it, Sweetie.”

“Yay!” The toddler exclaims, clapping her hands together. “Thank you!”

“You’re welcome, Love.” I say, kneeling down and kissing the side of her head.

“Rae-Rae pretty dress!” Madison says as Laura takes her hand and walks back towards the changing room. “We the same!”

“We are the same.” Reagan smiles, crouching down to kiss Madison on the cheek.

“You look beautiful Sweetheart.” Laura says as she walks past Reagan. “I love it.”

“I love it, too.” Reagan smiles, walking over to the mirror.

“You look beautiful, Reagan.”

“Thank you, Carm.” She smiles.

“You look so much like your Mom.”

“Thank you.”

“Mama?” Madison asks, trotting over to me, I lean down and pick her up, kissing her cheek. “Hungry, Mama.”

“You want a snack?”

“Pwease.” She chimes, nodding her head as I walk over to my backpack.

“Do you want cookies? Or do you want fruit snacks?”

“Fruit snacks.”

“Here you go, Monkey.”

“Thank you.” She says, climbing into the chair as I hand her the packet. “Juice, Mama?”

“Here.” I smile, handing Madison her sippy cup.

“Thank you.” She smiles.

“Reagan, I don’t think we need to alter it in any way.” I hear Laura say.

“Can we fix this boob part though? It’s too loose.”

“I see what you mean, I guess we’ll fix that then.” She says, placing her hands on Reagan’s cheeks. “You look beautiful, Sweetie.”

“Thank you, Mom.”

“Let me go get someone so they can fit it properly before I pay to have it taken in.” Laura says, kissing her on the cheek. I sit down in the chair beside Madison, kissing the little girl on the cheek.

“Mama.” Madison chimes as she giggles. “Silly.”

“I wanted to give you a kiss.”

“Okay.” She says, standing up on the chair, I reach out and hold her steady as she leans over and kisses my forehead. “Kiss Mama.” She smiles.

“I love you, Monkey.”

“I love you, Mama.”

“Carm, I need my wallet.”

“What for?”

“I have to pay for the girls’ dresses.”

“I’ll take care of it.” I say, reaching into my bag and getting my wallet.

“Okay.” Laura smiles, giving me a quick kiss when I stand up.

“That was easy, you never give up that fast.”

“I have a headache and want to get home.”

“Mommy don’t feel good!” Madison says, climbing out of the chair and wrapping her arms around Laura’s legs.

“I’m okay, Sweet pea. I’m just tired.”

“Nap?”

“Yes, Mommy needs a nap.” Laura says, picking up Madison.

* * *

I walk into our bedroom to find Laura and Madison curled up into each other as they sleep. As soon as we got home from dress shopping, Laura took Madison upstairs and convinced her that they should take a nap together. I look over to see Laura begin to stir; she opens her eyes, looking at Madison with a smile before kissing her forehead. “Hey Carm.” She says, her voice thick with sleep.

“Hey, Cupcake. Did you have a nice nap?” I ask, walking over to kissing her forehead.

“Yes, I feel a lot better.”

“Mama. No noise.” Madison mumbles.

“She’s just like you.” Laura laughs.

“I know. I love it.” I smile, leaning over Laura and kissing Madison on her forehead.

“No wake up yet, Mama.”

“You got to get up, Monkey. Or you’ll be up all night.” I say, walking around to my side on the bed and lying down behind Madison.

“Mommy tell Mama stop.” Madison whines as I start to tickle her sides.

“Carm, leave her alone, she’ll get cranky and them I’ll let you deal with it.”

“Okay, okay.” I say, kissing Madison’s cheek.

“Mama ‘noying.” Madison says, sitting up a little bit. Laura and I couldn’t stop laughing.

“Who says that?” I ask.

“Mommy.” Madison says; I look over at Laura to see her cheeks turning red.

“Oh really?”

“Sometimes you are, it isn’t my fault our daughter is a sponge.” Laura admits innocently. “I love you.” She chimes as she leans over Madison to kiss me.

“You’re lucky I love you too.” I say, kissing her quickly.

“Yucky.” Madison says, shaking her head at Laura and I kissing. I scoop her into my arms and rest her against my stomach as I lie back in bed. She bounces down on me, her feet then on either side of my waist.

“I love you, Monkey.” I say, peppering her face with kisses.

“I love you, Mama.”

“Do you remember what day it is?”

“Saturday.”

“Good job. Do you remember the date?”

“September 16th.”

“How old are you?”

“Two, Mama.” Madison smiles. “I smart.”

“You are the smartest kid in the world. High-five.” I smile, putting my hand out to her.

“Awesome, Mommy.” Madison chimes, turning to face Laura.

“Super awesome, Madison.” Laura smiles, kissing Madison on the cheek.

“I love you, Mommy.”

“I love you too, Sweetie.”

“Mom!” Jack calls out; breaking the little bubble the three of us were in when he comes storming in with tears in his eyes.

“What’s wrong, Sweetheart?” Laura says, as he runs over to her side of the bed.

“Mama yelled at me.”

“Mama yelled at you?”

“Yes, in a very mean way.”

“Is she still here?” Laura asks, getting up and storming out of the room.

“Can you keep an eye on your sister, Bud? I don’t want your mom getting herself hurt.”

“Okay. I hope she kicks Mama’s butt!”

“Yeah!” Madison says with a chuckle.

“You have no right!” I hear Laura shout from downstairs.

“You should go.” Jack says, wiping his eyes.

“I’ll be right back. Take Madison in your room and let her play with your stuff?”

“Okay.” He says, helping Madison down as I walk out of the room and make my way downstairs to see Laura and Danny arguing in the foyer.

“Hey!” I shout, trying to get my voice over theirs. “HEY!”

“Mind your business, Carmilla.” Danny shouts.

“You’re yelling at my fiancée, I am not going to mind my business at all.”

“Go fuck off.”

“Don’t talk to her like that.” Laura snaps.

“This isn’t her business.”

“She’s with and cares for your kids more than you do, this is her business.” 

“Well then maybe she can fix the problem that our son is an epic brat that needs to be disciplined once in a while.”

“How we choose to parent isn’t any of your concern seeing as you’re never here.” 

“Well I don’t want our son being influenced by someone that isn’t his mother.”

“And I don’t want our kids being introduced to your rotating love affairs.” Laura says, crossing her arms over her chest.

“You know what, I don’t have to see them anymore.”

“You say that like it’s a threat to them. If given the choice they wouldn’t want to see you. I make them see you to keep things even.” Laura says, I look over to see the hurt in Danny’s eyes, she looks down at her feet, turning on her heels and walking out of the house, slamming the door for good measure. “I don’t want her here anymore.”

“You always say that.” I say.

“Carmilla, I don’t want to have an argument with you, I can see this turning into one. So with that being said, I’m going to go get dinner ready and calm down.” I follow her into the kitchen, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her into me. “Carm.” She whispers, giving into me rather than fighting me as I hug her.

“I didn’t mean to say what I said in a way that would aggravate you.” I whisper in her ear. “I’m sorry.”

“I know.”

“Everything will be okay. Before you know it.”

“I believe you.” She says, turning in my arms to face me.

“Good to know.” I smile, brushing the tears from her eyes. “I love you, Cupcake.”

“I love you too.” Laura says, resting her forehead against mine. “More than anything.”

“I know.” I say, kissing her quickly.

“Mom! Madison is crying!” Jack calls out from the top of the stairs.

“I’ll go.” I say, going and seeing him standing at the top of the stairs holding Madison’s hand. “Sit on your bottom and slide down, Sweetie.” I say, watching Madison do as she’s told. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m hungry.”

“Mommy is making dinner, want to see if she needs help?”

“Okay.”

 

-Laura POV-

I was sitting in the rocking chair in Madison’s room, reading her a story as she slowly began to fall asleep on my lap. I look up to see Carmilla standing in the doorway with a smile. “I got her, Cupcake.” She says before walking over and gently picks up Madison, putting her in her crib before following me out of the room. 

“Are Reagan and Jack okay?”

“Yeah, Reagan was reading and Jack was watching TV when I came up here to check on you.”

“Okay. Come with me?” I ask, taking her hand in mine.

“Anywhere.” She smiles, stepping forward and kissing me.

“Grab a jacket, or a blanket. I want to go sit out back.”

“Okay.” She nods, walking over to the hall closet and pulling out a blanket. “After you my love.” We make our way outside to the hammock that was hung between the two large maple trees towards the far back of the yard, I climbed on first followed by Carmilla who wrapped the blanket around us as I curl into her side. I smile against Carmilla’s neck when I feel her kiss my forehead.

“Are you excited to get married?” I ask, wrapping my arm around her.

“More than ever.” Carmilla says, turning to face me with a smile. “Are you?”

“Of course I am. I want to marry you.”

“Then there is nothing more to worry about. We’re going to get married in a couple of weeks. Everything will be done and them we’re going to go on our honeymoon.”

“Are you sure you want to take the kids with us?”

“I can’t wait to see their faces when we tell them we’re going to Disney. They are going to love it. And it will be worth it.”

“It will be.” I smile, leaning in to kiss her. “You are the most caring person I have ever met.”

“As are you.” Carmilla smiles. “I can’t wait to make you my wife. I feel like I’ve waited so long.”

“It does feel that way. But at the same time it’s going to be over and the day is going to fly by.”

“At least I’ll be able to call you my wife.”

“I can’t wait to call you my wife.” I smile, kissing her cheek. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too.” Carmilla says, hesitating a bit.

“Something is bothering you.”

“Nothing’s bothering me. I promise.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“I – I don’t want Danny coming over here anymore. Like at all.”

“Okay.”

“I mean it, I don’t like the way she treats you, and I don’t like the way she treats Reagan and Jack…”

“I know, Carm. She isn’t going to be coming around here anymore, for the sake of us all.”

“Mom! Madison is crying!” Reagan calls out, I look over to see her standing on the porch holding Madison on her arms. Carmilla and I get off of the hammock and walk over to Reagan.

“We’ll still talk if you want to.” I say.

“No there is nothing to talk about, I don’t want her here anymore. It’s open ended.” Carmilla says, walking ahead of me and taking Madison into her arms, kissing her cheek and wiping the tears from her eyes.


	18. Chapter 18

-Carmilla POV-

“Are you done pacing? You’re starting to leave a rut in the floor.” Ell says from the chair in the corner.

“What is she doesn’t want to marry me? What if she leaves without another thought and takes the kids away? I’ll never see Madison again.” I say, pacing back and forth.

“You’re crazy, you know that right? You sound like an idiot.”

“But what if?”

“Carm, Laura loves you so much, I doubt she would even consider leaving you at all. She is probably feeling just as anxious as you are.” Ell says when there was a small knock on the door. I walk over and open the door; I look down to see Madison standing there with a smile on her face and her flower girl dress on.

“Hi, Mama!” She says excitedly, raising her arms for me to pick her up.

“Hello Princess. How are you?” I ask, kissing her cheek as I place her down on the bed in Jack’s room.

“Good, Mama. This from Mommy.” She says, handing me an envelope.

“Thank you, Monkey. Can you give this to Mommy?” I ask, walking over to the dresser and handing Madison an envelope with Laura’s name on it.

“Okay.” She nods, getting off of the bed and walking towards the door. I open it and watch as she walks across the hall to mine and Laura’s room.

“What’s that?” Ell asks.

“Laura wanted to write a letter for me to read before the wedding seeing as I stayed with you last night, she wanted to let me now her thoughts and she wanted me to write on.”

“So some cheesy shit that I never want to do if it kills me?”

“Basically.”

“Are you going to read it?”

“No, I don’t want to read it right now.” I say, putting the envelope in the inside pocket of my suit jacket.

“Don’t mix it up with your vows.”

“I won’t, those are in my back pocket.” I say, patting my pocket. There was another knock on the door. Ell walks over and opens the door and my mother walks in. “Hey, Mom.” I say as she brings her hands to her mouth, trying to hold back tears.

“You look gorgeous.”

“Thanks Mom.”

“Just wait until you see Laura, she is going to blow you away.”

“Don’t ruin it Lilita!” Ell says.

“I’m not ruining anything.” Mother says, wiping her eyes carefully so she doesn’t ruin her make up. “She looks beautiful and so do you.”

“Again, thank you. Is everyone getting ready to go?”

“Of course. Your father should be in here any minute to get things started.” She smiles, walking over and placing her hands on my cheeks. “I’m so proud of you. You have no idea how proud you’ve made me feel in these past couple of years. Everything you do and the mother you’ve become, I couldn’t be happier for you.”

“Thank you, Mother.”

“You are very welcome, Sweetheart.” She smiles, kissing my cheek when there was a knock on the door. Ell walks over and answers the door, opening it to allow my father to come in. He steps into the room and smiles.

“Well, aren’t you a beautiful sight?” He chimes, walking over to kiss my cheek. He takes off his glasses to wipe the tears from his eyes properly. “I can’t believe it.”

“That I look beautiful or that I’m getting married?” I ask with a forced laugh.

“Getting married. You’re a Karnstein, of course you’re a good looking person.”

“Thanks for that, Dad.” I say, rolling my eyes slightly.

“Any time Kiddo. Now, are you ready to go get married?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” I smile, taking a deep breath to calm myself a bit.

 

-Laura POV-

“Here Mommy.” Madison chimes, handing me an envelope with my name on it written in Carmilla’s familiar cursive handwriting.

“Thank you, Sweetie.” I smile, kissing her cheek.

“What’s that Mom?” Jack asks.

“Carmilla and I agreed on writing letters to each other, seeing as we weren’t with each other last night, and this is hers to me.” I smile, getting up and opening the drawer of my bedside table. “I’ll save it for later.”

“Okay, we have to start getting ready to get downstairs.” Perry chimes, assuming the position as wedding planner and organizer in recent weeks.

“We have some time Perry, don’t worry. Get everyone down there. I – I want to see Carm.”

“Quickly. Do you want me to get her?”

“Ask her to meet me in the living room.”

“Absolutely. Come on kids, we need you guys all downstairs.” Perry chirps, gathering Jack, Reagan, and Madison. I follow them out of the room, making my way downstairs.

“Take the kids outside and make sure everyone else makes it our there too?” I ask as we reach the bottom of the stairs.

“Of course.” Perry says, making her way upstairs.

“Can’t we see Carmilla too?” Jack asks.

“Let Mom see her alone first you dweeb.” Reagan says.

“Rae, don’t call your brother names. And you’ll have plenty of time to see Carmilla throughout the night.”

“Okay, Mom. You look really pretty.” Jack says, giving me a hug before being pushed out of the house by Perry.

“You have five minutes with her before things have to get going.”

“Perry calm down. Everything will be fine. That’s why I decided to have a private backyard wedding.”

“A schedule is still a schedule.”

“Of course.” I sigh, rolling my eyes at her.

“Oh my God.” I hear Carmilla says from the doorway. I look over to see tears in her eyes, as she looked at me with her mouth hanging open. “You look stunning.” She whispers, walking over and wrapping her arms around me.

“You look stunning too, Carm. This suit is amazing.” I smile, pulling back slightly to look at her, tugging gently at the lapels.

“Cupcake, that dress is amazing.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. It’s taking me everything to not kiss you right now and ruin our makeup.”

“The feeling is mutual.” I smile, kissing her cheek.

“This may sound strange, but are you sure you want to do this?”

“Seeing as you’re so much younger than me I feel like I should be asking you that same question.”

“I’m sure, I’ve never been more sure of something in my entire life.” Carmilla says, wrapping her arms around my waist.

“Then let’s get married.” I smile, holding her tight.

 

-Carmilla POV-

I stand at the front of the small aisle that was created just out in the backyard. Laura’s dream wedding involved being small and intimate and in the backyard of whatever house she was living in at the time. The aisle was lined with large vases with yellow and white lilies that alternated as they went. I couldn’t help by smile as I saw Reagan, Jack and Madison walking up the aisle. Reagan trailed behind Jack and Mad as they walked, making sure they were doing the right thing and making sure Madison was dropping flower petals at a decent rate and not trying to save them like she did in rehearsal.

“Do good, Mama?” Madison asks me with a bright smile.

“You did awesome, Monkey.” I say, kissing her cheek. I stand back up when I see Laura making her way towards us. I smile when our eyes meet, I feel my heart rate begin to pick up as I fight the urge to run towards her and start kissing her before everything is official.

“Mommy a princess.” Madison chimes as she pulls at my jacket.

“She is a Princess.” I smile, admiring Laura’s classic strapless white gown. Her hair was curled into a classic Laura look. Although it was somehow more put together than it usually was. Regardless of how she looked, I was going to make this woman my wife in a matter of moments and that’s all that mattered to me.

“Hey.” I say when Laura gets to me 

“Hey.” She smiles, taking my hand in hers.

* * *

“Hello Mrs. Hollis.” I hear Laura whisper in my ear and wrapping her arms around me from behind.

“Hello to you too, Mrs. Hollis.” I chime, turning around and kissing her. “How are you? 

“Good, happy to get those shoes off more than anything. Where are the kids?”

“Madison just ran off to get some sweets. Jack and Reagan are hanging out with some of the cousins.”

“Mommy! Mama!” Madison chants, rushing towards us with a cupcake in her hand.

“Madison Elizabeth, I hope you’ve eaten more than just sweets.” Laura chimes, picking up the little girl that was standing in front of her.

“I had chicken too.” The toddler clarifies.

“Good. Enjoy your cupcake.” Laura says, kissing Madison’s cheek before putting her back down.

“Thank you.” Madison chimes as she bounces towards Perry. I walk over and sit down on one of the chairs, only to have Laura sit on my lap. I wrap my arms around her waist, burying my face on the crook of her neck.

“Are you alright?” Laura asks, holding me close.

“Yeah, I’m tired. I want to get out of this suit and put on sweatpants.”

“I feel the same way. It is getting late, so everyone should be leaving soon.”

“Not soon enough.” I whine as Laura lifts my chin and leans in to kiss me.

“You’re such a baby.”

“Basically your fourth child.” I tease, causing Laura to laugh as she leans in and kisses me again.

“I wouldn’t change it.”

“Neither would I.”

 

-Laura POV-

“How come we can’t come with you on your vacation?” Jack whines as he sits on the floor next to the suitcase I was packing.

“Because it’s meant to be a time for Carmilla and I to have together and be alone after we got married. When you get married, one day, you’ll go on a honeymoon too and hopefully you won’t have to worry about leaving your kids home and can just go without an issue.”

“Well it still isn’t fair, I would take my kids with me.”

“You say that now.” I chime, kissing the top of his head.

“Carm, how come you can’t convince Mom to let us go with you on your vacation?”

“Mom makes the decisions, Kiddo.” She chimes, walking into the bathroom.

“Not fair! You’re my mom now too, doesn’t that count?” He says, standing up.

“As much as I love hearing that, your mother is still the boss of all of us.” Carmilla says, sticking her head out of the bathroom. “Hey, Cupcake, are you packing the kids or am I?” She says with a smile, looking in Jack’s direction.

“Hey, you tricked me!”

“Yes, we tricked you.” I chime, tickling his sides. “Go get your suitcase from the hall closet.”

“Thanks Mom! Thanks Carm!” He says, hugging us both before rushing out of the room.

“Just wait until he realizes we’re going on a Disney cruise.” Carmilla chimes, putting a makeup bag in the suitcase. “He says I’m his mom now, too.” She whispers in my ear.

“Are you okay with that?” I ask, turning to face her and wrapping my arms around her neck.

“I have no reason not to be. I’ve been in his life for four years now and I feel like more of a parent to him than Danny is. I love him and Reagan as much as I love Madison.”

“You are the sweetest person in the entire world.” I whisper, leaning in to kiss her softly. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too.”

“Mom, what is Jack talking about, we’re going away with you?” Reagan asks, walking into our bedroom.

“Yeah, get packing. We have to leave pretty early tomorrow. Grandpa is picking us up at ten-thirty. We have to be to the airport no later than eleven-thirty, our flight leaves in one.”

“What am I packing?”

“Pack for warm weather, and a bathing suit of course.” I say, watching Reagan’s face light up before walking out of the room.

“Carm! Can you come help me pack?” Jack calls out.

“I should go before he gets impatient, kinda like you.” She teases, kissing me on the cheek.

“You’re lucky I love you.”

“I know.”


End file.
